Land of Mother
by Bae Arcell
Summary: In a setting where the Islands is home to four countries, a being known as Giygas is collecting "Magic Users" for his own dangerous means. When Lucas and Claus learn that they can use it, their friend warns them to keep it a secret, but it won't stay secret for long, and soon Lucas will go on an adventure to save every Magic User, with the help of a brash boy and an asthmatic one.
1. The Prologue

Nowhere Islands was home to four countries.

The first one was the country of America, run by the elusive King George and Queen Maria. The two of them adopted a being named Giegue, however, their child destroyed most of their country, leaving it as a barren farmland area. Queen Maria and King George escaped the turmoil that their adoptive child had caused, and led a simple life in the country farmland, up until Maria's strange disappearance. The country was refounded and reborn from the ashes, being reborn as "Phoenix", where today, the country had a beautiful princess known as Ana. Phoenix rose from the ashes and became a prosperous kingdom, with farms scattered across the country. It's symbol was a musical note.

The second one was the country of Eagleland, and while nothing of such grandeur as what had happened in Phoenix had occurred here, Eagleland was known as the country of technology, as they had birthed many different creations of alchemy and electricity. The kingdom was run by the Royal Polestar family, and their crown jewel was the beloved princess Paula. The country was well known to the others as the country of technology, with things such as "television" and "phonelines", as well as "radio" and "cars". It's symbol was an eagle.

The third one was known to the world only as Dalaam, a secretive place that no one really knew of or about. Asking anybody on the streets would tell you that most of the inhabitants of the world didn't even know that it existed. Those who did know knew one thing... that the Prince, Poo, had the strangest name possible... and he had disappeared three years ago. Although it was very secretive, the country prided itself in its martial arts training, being the strongest, yet most unknown, countries on the island. It's symbol was a sword.

The fourth one, and the last, but not least, was the kingdom of Osohe. Run by a strange group of indeterminant gender, the Magypsies, the kingdom was the kindest, most neutral and loyal place the Islands had. Everyone was generally carefree and kind. The princess, Kumatora, was the main ruler of their kingdom and no one questioned that fact, ever, even though she commonly escaped the castle to pay with two commoners in the village of Tazmilly, just south of her castle. However, as our story starts, she has disappeared, much like the Prince of Dalaam. It's symbol was a sunflower.

The prince of Dalaam and the princess of Osohe, you see, were accused of having "magical powers beyond our imagination". More than anything, the people of the islands were terrified of the idea of Magic, or, as you and I would call it, "Psychokinesis", or, "PK" or "PSI". However, the people had not yet learned of these capabilities and were terrified.

Giegue, now calling himself Giygas, created an island far off from the Nowhere Islands, and claimed it as his own, naming "Tanetane Island". He infested it with terrible capabilities of defense and horror, and started to kidnap children all over the four countries with these magical abilities, claiming that he was doing the world a favour by taking these children away from their families and locking them away. No one was ever sure what he did to the children once he had them, but one thing was for certain - just the idea, just the thought, that your child was possibly one of these 'Magic Users' that kept popping up, and even one person outside of your family had learnt of this fact, your poor child had a chance of being taken far away from you.

... Never to see them again.

Have no fear, dear reader, as this story does have a happy ending. Allow me to tell you the tale of Giygas' downfall, of the acceptance of Magic in the world, of proper kings and queens claiming their thrones, of thieves and inventors being accepted, of songs, friendships, and of love. For our tale begins...

* * *

... Our tale begins with an omelet.

Lucas of the village of Tazmilly lived on the edge of the island in the kingdom of Osohe. He was a strange boy that most villagers found odd and detached, but he seemed to always understand what people wanted or how they felt. He was loved by his mother a great deal, and his father felt he needed a bit of a spine, but loved him all the same. Their pet dog, Boney, loved him too, and so did his beloved twin, Claus. Lucas was also friends with the princess Kumatora, who frequently visited their home just to escape from the Magypsies and the struggles of being ruler of a country.

As his beloved mother, Hinawa, placed a plate with an omelet in front of him, Lucas gave a wide smile and began to eat it right away. The rest of the family ate their morning meal together before finally, the man of the household, Flint, stood up from his seat and fixed his hat on his head.

"... I'm going to be heading off now to work with the sheep," he announced. "If any of you need me, I'll be out back."

"Of course, Flint," replied Hinawa, smiling up at him. "I'll take care of the boys. We were going to head into town today."

"Are we going to see Lighter and Fuel?" asked Claus excitedly.

Hinawa shook her head. "Oh, no, not today, I'm afraid. We're heading off to speak with Mr. Wess today."

Lucas noticed his father frown quite a bit before he turned and headed to the door. Just as Flint placed his hand on the doorknob, he turned his head toward his family one last time.

"... Hinawa. Be careful around Wess, you hear? You know how I feel about that man," were Flint's words before he opened the door and left for the day. He wouldn't be back until it was time for supper.

Hinawa gave a sharp sigh before she stood up from the table as well, picking up the now empty plates and placing them on the counter. "Hurry up, boys, I want to get this meeting with Mr. Wess over with, before your father gets angry."

"If dad doesn't like him," Claus began, as he and Lucas stood up, "why are we visiting him?"

"Oh, boys... you know I'm the town healer. I need to make a new salve for Wess' son," Hinawa explained with a small smile.

Once the three were ready to leave, they headed out the door, waved goodbye to a hardworking Flint, and headed down the road into the main village. Hinawa led her sons to a house just outside of it, past the river bridge, and knocked on the door.

A gruff reply on the other side came as it opened, revealing an elderly man who seemed to be in a bad mood. He gave a big frown but stepped out of the way. "Good to see you, Hinawa," said the old man, leading them through the small home. "The moron should be here in a minute."

This man, this very rude man, was Wess, and in all his thirteen years, Lucas had never met anyone that he had hated as much as he hated this man. Wess had never left a good impression on anyone, and although Lucas suspected that him buying Duster's medicine for his leg was a sign that he regretted what he had caused, it didn't change the fact that Lucas felt he was a horrible father to Duster aside from that one fact. The man always frowned, and he always insulted, and he always got on everyone's bad side quite easily.

... But he paid his mother very well for medicine that his son needed.

"... That's good to hear, Mr. Wess," said Hinawa after a moment of silence. "How has he been feeling?"

"Meh, he complains, but he continues to walk on it, the moron," said Wess in a huff, taking a chair and placing it in the middle of the room. Lucas realized that it must have been meant for Duster. "The town doctor says that he should be using a cane or something, but his brace does just fine and your salve always does the trick when its bothering him. Doesn't stop the fact that the moron keeps walking when he should be relaxing."

"It numbs the pain, but relaxing is recommended..." Hinawa agreed quietly.

At that moment, the door behind the boys opened up, causing the twins to turn to see a young man in ragged clothing stepping... no, limping, into the building. Lucas hadn't seen Duster in a few months, not since the last time his mother had to make this trip to make a new salve for him. With a quick, studious glance, Lucas could tell a few things immediately about him.

Duster hadn't been sleeping well. There were bags under his eyes and he just generally looked tired. Duster also hadn't been eating well, but he really hadn't ever since he had moved out of his father's place and into a small home in town that was cheap for him to keep. The weight loss that he had suffered since Lucas had last seen him, however, was horribly noticeable. Duster also didn't want to be here, and Lucas could tell just be seeing the frown on his face.

... Sometimes being the son of a medicine maker had its benefits.

"Ah, Duster! Take a seat please, and I'll get started on your new salve," said Hinawa quickly, and then she turned to her boys. "Did you two want to help me?"

* * *

The new salve made and sealed in a jar, Wess handed Hinawa a hefty amount of coins. He then, rather conversationally, asked her how Flint was doing.

As the two adults caught up on each other's gossip, Lucas smiled up at the tired Duster in the chair and decided to start a conversation of his own, as the silence between him, his brother, and Duster was enough to be able to hear a feather skim past your ear.

"So, Duster," Lucas started slowly, looking down at his hands when the young man gave him his attention. "You're beginning to look a bit ragged..."

"A bit?" Claus snorted. "I'd say he got worse."

Duster gave a low, dark chuckle. "Well, actually, I just got back from Osohe Castle. I snuck in uninvited and got caught trying to get out."

"What for?" asked Claus instantly. "The penalty for that is outrageous, and I know your a good thief, but...?"

"... It wasn't about that," Duster replied quickly, shaking his head. It was a well known habit of Duster's to thieve and pickpocket people in order to get himself food and pay his taxes. "No, actually, I wanted to speak to Kuma."

Lucas recalled Princess Kumatora speaking quite fondly of the crippled thief, and, to be honest, Lucas had begun to feel a little threatened. Being friends with the princess was kind of his thing, and knowing that someone was starting to take his thunder made him a little upset. Princess Kumatora had quickly replied that she had actually known Duster for a very long time - his father used to work for the Magypsies, but she had never specified how. Just hearing the very informal way that Duster spoke of the Princess only solidified the Princess' claims. He wasn't afraid to drop the "Princess", and referred to her rather casually.

"What did you want to talk about with the Princess?" Lucas asked.

"I just wanted to see her. I heard rumors from this weird visitor named Fassad that Giygas from Tanetane was going around capturing people who can use Magic," Duster explained, his tone dropping. It was like he didn't want Wess to hear. "I never told Wess this, but Kuma and the Magypsies... they can use Magic."

"They're Magic users?" Claus asked, amazed.

Duster nodded. "So, you see, I wanted to get in and see if she was okay, but the minute I reached her quarters I find her door wide open. Kuma never leaves her door open."

Lucas' heart sank. "What... What do you mean?"

It was here that a very dark look appeared on Duster's face, one that spoke anger, horror, and sadness. "... It's means Kuma's gone, Lucas. She got snatched."

Lucas and Claus' faces fell at this news.

"The... The princess is gone?" Claus muttered, looking down.

"I'm sorry to be the bearer of bad news," Duster spoke, lowering his own head. "It's the truth. If I knew where they took her, I'd go after her myself."

"Mother says you need to take time this time," Lucas replied. "She said you need to rest it."

"I can't do that, I got a starving stomach to feed," was the thief's reply. "I'm not as fortunate as you to go to bed on a full stomach."

"Then why'd you leave your dad?" Claus asked, but he felt that he already knew the answer.

"You know why," snapped Duster, confirming Claus' fear. "But right now, Kuma's gone, and I'm going to find out where. Something tells me that Fassad stranger is behind it."

Lucas frowned, looking away. Duster's words hit home for him. He had also heard about what had been going on in the other countries - there were rumors that the Prince of Dalaam had been snatched, and various children and adults had been disappearing as well. Was this related to what had happened to Princess Kumatora? Lucas suspected as such. It made him wish that he could use Magic, and use it well enough to protect himself from those scary snatchers. Then he could go after Princess Kumatora and save the day, and Duster wouldn't have to, and get to follow the orders that his mother had given him to an extent. Maybe Princess Kumatora would let him call her Kuma, like she lets Duster.

It'd be nice to play hero.

... But it would be scary, too, like all the stories that his mother told him and Claus before they went to bed. The stories with the knights slaying dragons and the princes saving the princesses locked away in their towers and cells, defeating evil witches and fairies along the way. Maybe it was too dangerous for Lucas, but he felt he'd have a better chance than his older friend. At least he didn't have a leg to worry about.

* * *

That night, Lucas looked up at the sky before he went to bed and dreamed of Magic. His dream quickly shifted into something horrible, He could see Princess Kumatora, in her beautiful royal blue dress, reaching out to him as a veil of fire surrounded her. Then he saw Duster, next to him, looking down at him with a scary, passive look, his hands in his pockets as he stood. Lucas felt that Duster expected something of him, and when he looked straight ahead, the fire was gone, but the princess was still there. Princess Kumatora was instead in a cell now, surrounded with scary looking skeletons and she was chained.

"Princess!" Lucas called out, and he moved to approach her, but Duster stopped him. "Let me go! I'm going to save her!"

"... You have to start somewhere else," said another voice, someone he didn't recognize. Lucas looked behind him to see a Magypsy. "Lucas, my sweet, there is more to this world than you understand."

Lucas blurted out a rather intelligent answer. "Howha?"

"Oh, Lucas, Lucas, Lucas," chimed the Magyspy, as s/he approached. "There's so much you don't understand, I don't quite think that you're ready for all of it. Unfortunately, the world doesn't work that way. Before you know it, the world will shift around you and everything you thought you knew about yourself will drastically change, and there's not much that we can do about that. You're such an innocent being, Lucas. You, and your brother. You see love in its simplest, most uncomplicated form, and accept it for what it is. Now, it's time for you to grow up, and you don't quite want to. Things are going to change."

"How so?" Lucas asked.

The dream Duster next to him placed a hand on his shoulder, and when Lucas went to look up at him, all he saw was Duster limping away.

"Lucas, what you are seeing now is fragments of the future," explained the Magypsy. "I'm helping you by explaining all this to you through the means of Mind Magic, for I know that soon, your own form of Magic will awaken."

"Fragments... of the future?" Lucas turned away from the retreating dream Duster back to the Magypsy. "What do you mean?"

"Your heart knows where my sweet Princess Kumatora is, and it wants you to go look for her. Things won't quite work out, so your mind is warning you of things to come."

That was when he saw a terrifying sight, the sight of his brother being dragged away by a dark being. "C-Claus!"

"Your mind is _warning you, _Lucas. Keep its words in mind."

* * *

Lucas jolted awake.

Slowly, and surely, the memories of his startling visions and he almost screamed out from the horror of what might happen. What did his mind mean by the fire, or Princess Kumatora being in a cell? Was she really locked away on that Tanetane Island that Duster had told him about? And what about Duster leaving him behind in the darkness like that? Was Duster leaving? And Claus.. being taking away like that into the blackness by shadows. He had to stop that from happening.

A sudden flame appeared in the room, and Claus said uttered a few words. "... I'm in trouble."

Lucas looked over in fear, seeing that his brother had somehow summoned a flame to appear just above the palm of his hand. He almost cried out, but he covered his mouth in time. "Claus!" he muttered through his hand, "Make it go away!"

"I'm trying...!" Claus harshly whispered, before finally making it disappear. "... I guess I have Magic, Lucas... I'm scared. What Duster said earlier about Princess Kumatora disappearing, being taken away. Will that happen to me?"

"No!" Lucas exclaimed through his hand, before he finally let his mouth free. "I won't let it, Claus."

Claus scoffed somewhat. "That's a role reversal. You're protecting me, now?"

"I had a horrible dream, and a Magypsy from the court appeared before me, saying that my heart and mind were _warning _me of things to come," Lucas explained, looking down a little from the fear. "The Magypsy, she explained that I had Magic, too. It's just not awake yet."

"If your powers were telling you of things to come, than I think they're awake," Claus happily chimed. "I guess we're going to have to protect each other from those snatchers, then, huh? If you can see into the future and I can summon flame, we're both in trouble."

"I want to go for a night walk," Lucas suddenly said, getting out of bed and slipping into his nightwear shoes. "Duster was walking away from me in my dream. I think he might leave town, or he might leave us somehow."

"Do you think he might be going after Princess Kumatora? He did say that he had a feeling Fassad was behind it," Claus mentioned, slipping into his own shoes.

"I think he might be," Lucas agreed, as Claus inched toward the window and opened it far enough for them to be able to slip out.

The two boys escaped without incident, and wandered away onto the path that led to town. The town was dark and dreary at night, and none of the night lights were on. Everyone was fast asleep. Usually in this time of day, Wess and Duster were the only ones haunting the area, as both were known to be night owls to some extent. Lucas could pick out the door that led to Duster's small home built into one of the stone structures forming Tazmilly. It was closed.

"Where's Duster?" asked Claus, his voice barely above a whisper. "I don't see him. Maybe it's not tonight that he's..."

Claus suddenly stopped when Lucas pointed, and both saw Duster's door open a small crack. A slim, limping form slipped through bearing a bag, closing the door behind him. Lucas gasped out of slight fear as his vision became true, for Duster was leaving that night and he was going after Princess Kumatora.

Without thinking, the young newly christianed Magic User raced toward the nearly crippled thief, practically forcing himself to grip around his legs, stopping him in his tracks. "Duster, where do you think you're going? You can't leave! My mother told you that you had to rest! That you had to relax!"

He looked up, to see Duster giving him the exact same look the one in his dream had. "Lucas, let go of me."

"You can't go!"

Duster frowned, as Claus came up as well. "Lucas, let go of me, how did you...?"

"Duster, it's a very long story," Claus began, placing a hand on Lucas' shoulder. "You see... we just learned tonight that we're actually Magic Users... I can summon fire, and Lucas had a prophetic dream about you and Princess Kumatora, and how you were leaving."

As Claus spoke, Duster managed to get Lucas off of him. "I want the two of you to do me a favour and not announce what you can do. If Wess finds out, it'd be bad for all of us."

"What's so bad about your dad finding out about this?" Claus asked him instantly.

Duster paused. For a moment, Lucas feared he was never going to answer and leave them standing there in the cold. Then, finally, "Claus, I'm not sure if you know, but Wess has a bad opinion about Magic. You don't know why he stopped working for the Magypsies, but part of the reason was because that their Magic ruined any of his chances of doing his job, which was to protect this object that he had been tasked with."

Lucas muttered then, "So, they used wards instead of your father?"

Dustern nodded. "I think Wess might have ratted out Kuma. I don't want the same happening to you two, do you hear me?"

Both slowly nodded, frightened by the idea of Wess telling on Princess Kumatora like that. Duster knelt down then and placed a hand on one of their shoulders each and gave them a soft smile.

"Protect each other, protect yourselves. Keep what you can do a secret for as long as you can. Never tell anyone, not even your own parents, not until you know for _sure_ that Hinawa and Flint are going to accept it," he told them, but then he paused and shook his head with a smirk. "No, no they'll accept it. You don't have parents like mine. Yours are accepting. But, the point is, boys, I don't want you getting caught like Kuma did, even if it might have been Wess' fault. Don't tell anyone."

"Not even Fuel?" asked Claus. Fuel was their friend, they told him everything.

Duster only shook his head. "Magic is a big deal, boys. Not everyone accepts the idea that people can do what you can do. So do me and your parents a favour - just keep it quiet. Don't use it in public. Just hide it. Okay?"

Both boys nodded as Duster stood up, a look of pain quickly flashing. Lucas stole a glance at his left leg, seeing that it was a bit bulkier than normal. He must have been wearing his brace.

"Are you still leaving...?" he asked worriedly, looking up.

Duster put a hand on Lucas' head, ruffling his hair somewhat. "Lucas, I have to go after Kuma. Someone has to. Somehow I'm going to stop all of this, let you guys live free and be able to use what you can without the fear. You two stay safe, and I'll come back. ... _I promise_."

He turned toward the entrance to Tazmilly, and looked back one more time. "You two better head back to bed. Your mother might get worried." After he said those words, he limped toward the gates, waving back at them as a final goodbye.

Both boys stood there, frozen in fear as they watched their older friend disappear through the gates. Claus gave a sigh.

"What a night this has been," he announced to Lucas. "I can summon fire to my palm, you had a dream about a Magypsy that ended up being true, and we both failed in keeping Duster home. Let's go home. I want my bed."

Both sauntered home sadly, their hopes diminished from their failure to fix the future. Neither noticed the shadow of an old man disappear from behind a building.

One of Duster's fears became true. Wess knew what Claus could do.

* * *

**... To be continued...**

**Prophetic Item: A BINDLE STICK  
Prophetic Person: FUEL  
Character Cards Gained:**

_**LUCAS  
**A shy boy from the village of Tazmilly. He is good friends with the Princess, Kumatora, and a crippled thief named Duster. He has a twin brother named Claus. He's a quiet and knowledeable boy, able to piece together things rather quickly. He will soon discover that his part in everything is much bigger than he would have liked.__**  
**_

_**CLAUS  
**Lucas' older twin brother, from the village of Tazmilly. His friends with the Princess Kumatora, but he's not as close to her as Lucas is, and considers Duster a more important friend, thinking he's brave and strong for what he can do. He's brash and doesn't always think first. He discovered that he can summon fire.__  
_

_**DUSTER  
**Wess' son, but he never refers to himself as that and also never calls Wess 'father' or 'dad'. He's a thief in Tazmilly, stealing to survive and get by in a world that won't accept him because of his limp. He is a very caring individual, thinking of the twins and "Kuma" as very important to him.__**  
**_

_**PRINCESS KUMATORA  
**The princess of Osohe, living close to the small village of Tazmilly, where two of her best friends live. Not much is known about her at the moment other than the fact that she can use Magic and was recently captured by Giygas, taken to a far away place. Duster started his journey to find and retrieve her._

_**WESS  
**Duster's impolite father, but he's never called that by his son. He despises Magic after it replaced his job of protecting an object by the Magypsies... but is that reason enough to start a riot by getting the Princess captured by Giygas?_

_**HINAWA & **__**FLINT  
**The twins' loving parents. Hinawa works as a medicine maker and Flint takes care of the sheep. They support their sons with every choice they make, but what will they think of their sons being able to use Magic?_

**MAGIC LEARNED:  
**_  
_**Prophetic Dream: **Sometimes a Magic User can learn of the near or distant future through a dream, that is, if it directly involves them and their feelings. Sometimes these messages can be changed for the better of for worse, but other times, they are unable to be changed no matter what the User tries.

**Fire: **Most Magic Users can summon a form of fire to be used as either a match or a weapon. It started the Magic User executions a long time ago, resulting in Magic Users hiding themselves. Giygas sees it as a dangerous part of a Magic User's arsenal, but it really depends on the person's intent of using it.


	2. The Story Begins

Duster's warning and words made sense to Lucas.

Basically, he wasn't allowed to tell anyone about what he could do, even if right now he was just having prophetic dreams. The idea had occurred to him the next morning that perhaps, one day, he would be able to summon fire just like his brother. Maybe one day Claus would be able to have prophetic dreams, or their power would even grow. Right now, though, the idea that Lucas could one day have full powered Magic scared him. If Wess would tattle on Princess Kumatora, would he tattle on Lucas if he ever found out what he could do? Just the thought, just the idea, that, because of what he could do, he would be taken from his parents, scared him.

He loved his mother very much, and he loved his father, too. His brother and his dog were his best friends. He didn't ever want to leave them. He didn't ever want to move out of the house like Duster did. He didn't ever want to. He wanted to stay in his mother's hold forever.

However, even though the words made sense for Lucas, it didn't exactly mean that Claus had completely understood them.

The morning brought dew to the grass and Hinawa had made omelets again, but there were no complaints from her three men, as she loved to call them. The dog barked out at the sheep as Flint tended to them, and Hinawa was embroidering a blanket on the front porch in her chair. The twins were playing with their best friend Fuel, who they hadn't told about their Magic, as Duster has asked them.

Fuel's father was helping Flint by making a new fence, as the old one had been broken by an angry sheep the other day. It was generally peaceful for the two separate families, up until Wess arrived, appearing to be in a hurry. The three boys stopped their games and watched as the elder rushed to Hinawa, Flint and Lighter.

"Wess?" asked Flint, a slight frown appearing on his face.

"Yes, I know I'm here!" barked Wess, before he swiftly turned to Hinawa, raising a finger at her. Flint sidestepped closer to his wife. "Do you know where that moron is?! I stopped by his house today, and he's gone! The medicine's gone! His brace is gone! His rags for clothes are gone! His food is gone! He's just GONE!"

Hinawa stuttered for a moment, before she finally shook her head. "I haven't seen him since I left your home yesterday, Wess. I'm sorry."

Wess turned around, so he was facing the boys, but Lucas realized that it was possible that he didn't see them there. His eyes had a faraway look and his expression had changed drastically from the angry one to a... to a sorrowful one. It didn't suit the angry and ridiculing personality and idea that Lucas had grown to associate with Wess as a whole. He had never seen this side to the man before and it slightly scared him.

The entire group watched as the old man crumpled to his knees. "... Where did he go...?"

Lucas then had to watch a very hard scene of Wess just... breaking. The old man weeped lightly for a moment, before he suddenly just bawled, punching the ground repeatedly until he managed to recompose himself. The adults were hesitant to approach him, scared that he would strike them or completely lash out. Finally, he stood up and Lucas feared the look in his eyes - anger and hatred with a tad bit of remorse. Wess then turned sharply toward the path, before he said something.

"... I guess I have no choice but to wait for him. He'll come back eventually for his old man, I know he will."

Wess then took his leave.

The group was silent for a moment before Flint decided to say something.

"How many of us actually _believe _that Duster cares what happens to Wess?"

"I know for sure that he doesn't really," Lighter pointed out, before turning back to the fence. "But even I know that somewhere in their hearts, those two care for each other in their own odd way."

Lucas hoped that was true. He didn't have much time for hoping for something else or even to think, as at that time Fuel and Claus suddenly began brawling across the grass, both yanking at each other's tunics and Fuel even grabbing hold of some of Claus' orange hair. Hinawa rushed forward to stop the fighting, when suddenly a burst of flame came from Claus' palm, straight at Fuel's own hair, setting it on fire. The boy flailed about in fear, until Lighter grabbed hold of a convenient bucket of water, and dunked his son's head into it. Hinawa gave Claus a disapproving stare, and at that moment, the visit was over.

* * *

When the boys had to sit at the kitchen table, and it wasn't meal time, they knew they were in trouble.

Today, it was Claus' turn, while Lucas had been sent to their room to give his brother some privacy. He didn't know what was being said, he couldn't hear a single word. All that he could hear was silence. It unnverved him. He peered out the window, seeing the vast world outside of Tazmilly. Something in him wondered where Duster was now. Was he past those trees? Did he maybe hit the next town and stop there? Maybe he was in Eagleland, or Phoenix! Maybe he was visiting the mysterious country of Dalaam.

One thing was for sure, Duster was very lucky to get to see the outside world. At least he could leave town whenever he wanted, or even venture into the forest without permission like Lucas had to. It didn't change the fact that the outside world was very scary, mainly because Lucas had never really left Tazmilly before. He thought a few times that maybe he had seen the retreating back of his older friend, but then remembered that Duster was probably long gone by this point. He was probably in the next town by now.

The door to his bedroom opened and Lucas looked over to see his mother standing in the doorway, a sorrowful look on her face. For a moment, Lucas panicked. Was he going to be in trouble, too?

"Lucas..." started Hinawa, stepping forward and sitting on the edge of his bed. "Lucas, is it true? You have Magic, too?"

Lucas gave a small, hesitant nod. "... Are you... Are you mad?"

Hinawa's reply was a small giggle. "No, no of course not. Actually, I'm scared. All these rumours and stories of Magic Users disappearing... I don't want that to happen to my sweet boys. I cherish all of you. To know now that I can have you taken away from me... It scares me."

"I won't be taken away, Mother!" Lucas said somewhat quickly. "I'd never use Magic! Ever! I won't learn how to use it! At all!"

"Lucas..."

"I promise! I won't use it!"

"Lucas," Hinawa said somewhat sternly, his words stopping as soon as she said it. Hinawa took a deep breath and shook her head. "Lucas, don't worry. Your father and I aren't angry, and we won't ever stop loving you because of something that you can do. What I wanted to say was just because you can use Magic, it won't stop me from caring for you and loving you."

... Just as Duster had said last night. Lucas blinked as Duster's words became true, and a pain of guilt appeared in his heart as he recalled Wess' reaction. It was his fault that his friend left. He had failed to stop him. He had failed to use his powers to their full potential.

"Now, Lucas," Hinawa began again, and Lucas looked up at her immediately. "I want you to promise me to be careful about where you use it, okay? I don't want you taken away."

"Is Fuel okay?" Lucas asked immediately.

Hinawa giggled somewhat. "Lighter stopped by after we were done talking to your brother Fuel had to get a hair cut, but he's fine now. A little shocked, but he's fine."

"Is Lighter mad? Is Fuel?"

"Fuel was more confused. Lighter just said we have gifted boys," Hinawa explained simply, running a hand through her son's hair. "But, I want you to promise me, Lucas. Be careful with your Magic, don't tell anyone, okay?"

For the second time, Lucas promised. "I will." He even crossed his heart, something he only ever did for his mother.

Reassured, Hinawa got up from the bed and headed for the door with a smile. "That's my boy."

* * *

Sadly, things didn't work out, as Lucas quickly discovered.

On the way home from shopping, Flint and Claus had been attacked by men in black suits. Flint managed to fend off for himself, but Claus had vanished sometime during the fight, and Flint wasn't sure where to. He deserted their purchases, scouring through the streets of Tazmilly, even banging on neighbours' doors to see if they had seen them. It was terrifying.

He went home that day, without their supply of material, and announced the news quietly to his wife that night, who cried. Lucas, from the second floor, kneeling by the banister, heard everything and looked down at the wood floor by his feet, Boney whining next to him. Nothing made sense anymore.

The omelets tasted wrong that night, but Lucas knew that they were made the same way as they always were. Maybe it was the missing warmth next to him, where his brother usually sat. Maybe it was the fact that his mother had been crying when she made them, and her tears fell into the mixture. Maybe it was just his dulled senses getting the better of him as he tried to piece together what had happened. Was this Wess' fault, too? But he hadn't been there when Claus had set Fuel's hair on fire, had he? He had already headed home.

It was possible that maybe it wasn't Wess. Maybe it was... Maybe it was Lighter. But Lighter wouldn't betray Flint, would he?

... Nothing made sense anymore.

That night, Lucas made Boney sleep in Claus' bed so he could fool himself into believing it was all just a dream. It didn't work, as he quickly discovered. There was no point lying to himself that everything was okay. There was no point pretending that Claus hadn't been snatched. There was no point lying about anything when you knew the truth and so did everyone else.

There was no point in anything anymore without his brother there beside him to help him through it.

* * *

Walking around town the next day, Tazmilly appeared to be a dark shade of grey rather than its usual white. The grass was duller. The sky wasn't blue anymore. Nothing was the same without Claus there next to him.

Lucas was currently thinking about the dream that he had the night before. Another one of his prophetic dreams. The same Magypsy from before, s/he appeared, too. It's memory was still firm in his mind, and just the idea of it... it haunted Lucas. He wanted to forget all about it.

* * *

_Lucas stood in a field of sunflowers. _

_Just before him, was his brother. With a sharp exclaimation, Lucas tried to rush towards his brother. But Claus kept running away, until they were running on water, out toward the vast sea to an island off of Nowhere. Just the sight of it brought to mind "Tanetane".  
_

_Was that where his brother had been taken, or was being taken? To Tanetane?  
_

_"Lucas."  
_

_Lucas turned around immediately, seeing the same Magypsy, or so he figured. He could see hir more clearly this time around. Dressed all in red, this one was Aeolia.  
_

_"Aeolia, right?" Lucas asked.  
_

_"Hohohoho! You remember my name, sweet Lucas," Aeolia giggled. "It's been so long since we have seen each other in person that I feared you didn't remember me."  
_

_"We spoke the night before," Lucas brought up, before he looked down. "I failed. I couldn't stop Duster from running away, and I couldn't stop Claus from getting captured."  
_

_"The sad thing about prophetic dreams, Lucas, is that they are just that... prophetic," Aeolia explained with a dark town in hir voice. "There is always the chance that you can change the future, but sometimes you can't. And, what I'm about to ask you is going to be a lot harder than what Duster asked of you."  
_

_Lucas stayed quiet.  
_

_"Lucas, my dear sweet Kumatora was taken from her bedroom. Her best friend, Duster, left to go after her. Then, your brother was taken after setting fire to his friend's hair, leaving you, also a Magic User, behind. Lucas, I want you to awaken your true power, and go after your brother. Go on a journey, save all Magic Users such as me and yourself."  
_

_The very idea filled him with fear.  
_

_"Lucas, your mind and heart are telling you to go after Claus, and you're going to find him in Tanetane. Will you not listen to your heart's desire, and instead, reject what it wants?"  
_

_"I'm not saying that I want to do that, but I do want to go after Claus, somehow," Lucas admitted, twiddling his thumbs. "But, I don't want to leave my parents. I don't want to leave them all alone without their sons."  
_

_"Sometimes the heroes need to leave their families behind for the greater good. Doing so for you, Lucas, will save many lives. Your parents will be fine. They won't be targeted, this I can assure you."  
_

_"What makes you so sure of that?"  
_

_"Well, for one thing, my dear sweet Lucas, they're not Magic Users. They're as plain as a piece of bread, with their hearts as big as a Drago's. They'll be fine."  
_

_"No they won't! If I leave them, they'll get sad! They'll cry, just like they did for Claus!"  
_

_"So you'll leave your brother all by himself on Tanetane, frightened and alone, with no idea where he is or what is going to happen to him?"  
_

_Aeolia's wrods were mean, that was the first thing that came to Lucas' mind. The next thing that did was his sorrow and shame. No, he would never leave his brother hanging like that, but he was scared. He didn't want to leave the safety of his mother's arms, ever. He didn't want to leave her behind, or his father. He didn't know what to do or where to go for help, or even where he was going in the first place. Where was Tanetane?  
_

_He noticed that Aeolia was quiet for a long moment before, finally, s/he spoke again. "Lucas, dear sweetie Lucas, please understand. You are the one destined to fix all of this, but have no fear, sweetie! You won't do it alone. Do you need help? I can offer it for you. Come visit me tomorrow, please, sweetie pie. I'll tell you where you need to go."  
_

_... The dream had ended then._

* * *

Just remembering Aeolia's words gave Lucas a new resolve. He sprinted forward, toward Osohe castle with determination. He had to speak hir! He had to!

The guards at the gates of the castle were quiet and dark, with one making light snoring sounds from his armor. Lucas wondered for a moment just how he was going to get in when the drawbridge opened itself...

... and standing there was another Magypsy, Ionia. Lucas always liked hir best, and approached hir instantly.

"Sweetie pie, Aeolia told me you'd be coming today," Ionia greeted with a smile and a slight wink. "Come with me, please, and I'll lead you to her."

Lucas did so, and Ionia led him through the vast halls of Osohe castle, stepping through chambers and doors and going up a flight of stairs until they reached the throne room, where, seated in a big yellow chair was Aeolia hirself. Lucas cautiously approached, stopping by the steps that led up to the chair, and bowed respectfully. Surrounding him where the other Magypsies, each of them looking down on him with smiles, except for Doria, who simply crossed hir arms.

"... Lucas, Chosen One of Three," began Aeolia, before s/he took a sip of the drink s/he was holding. "I have expected your arrival today. I am glad, sweetie, that you decided to accept my offer of meeting me today."

Lucas only nodded.

"I promised to explain to you where you needed to go and what you needed to do in order to save your brother," Aeolia continued, sitting up properly and placing hir drink onto the nearby end table. "First and foremost, I wanted to do one more thing before we got to that. I wanted to teach you some special Magical spells that will serve as important in ensuring your safety before you met the next of the Chosen Three. The process is very simple, so please have no fear."

"I... I trust you," Lucas spoke finally, nodding once more.

"The first of these spells is very simple, it is a spell known only as Lifeup Alpha, so please approach me."

Standing up, Lucas stepped up the steps and knelt down before Aeolia, who placed hir hand to his forehead. A flash occurred, and for a moment, Lucas felt a sudden, throbbing headache and everything sounded ten times louder than usual. He faltered backwards and stumbled into a sitting position on the first step, holding his aching head.

"He's taking it rather well," muttered Mixolydia, to Lydia, who nodded.

Just as sudden as it had appeared, the aching in his head was gone. Aeolia continued.

"The next spell is known as Healing Alpha. While Lifeup brings back strength, Healing recovers from things such as burns. Please, sweetie pie, come back to me."

"U... Um... Okay, Aeolia..."

Lucas did as Aeolia asked, and approached hir again, once again kneeling down before hir again. Once again, Aeolia paced hir hand on his forehead, and another throbbing pain occurred. This one was softer than the last, and he didn't fumble backwards this time, keeping steady and even managing to stay in his kneeling position.

"Oh, such a brave boy!" cooed Ionia.

As soon as the pain was gone, he looked up at Aeolia, who was wearing a grave face.

"This last one will be harder," s/he explained. "It was once, a long time ago, the very spell that represented this entire island, up until Giegue's destruction of the country of America. In one word, it describes the Song of the Ancients, which has been lost with time. I will now teach you the Magical Spell of Love Alpha, which will protect you in your journeys."

S/he placed both hir hands onto his head and an intense, mind crushing, throbbing pain wracked his brain and skull as she downloaded the spell into his brain. He cried out slightly from the pain, resisting the urge to just hold his head steady. Ionia and Mixolydia sighed in fear and he could hear Doria's worried hums. Aeolia then suddenly let go, and Lucas fell to the ground in a crumbled heap, holding his head in pain.

S/he very patiently waited until Lucas could sit up to continue her words. "Lucas, I have taught three spells that will help you for the first leg of your journey. As you use them and grow, your spells will grow with you, and you will even learn more as you go along. The people that you will meet will help you along the way, and your party will grow as you save more and more people from the terrors that Giygas is causing.

"The first person that you will meet will find you. Continue forth from Tazmilly to where your friend had been headed, into the next country. The first person... will find you."

And with those parting words, s/he waved hir hand and Ionia escorted Lucas out.

From the front gates of the castle Osohe, Ionia smiled down at Lucas and gave him a big hug.

"Oh, my sweetie, sweetie Lucas, I'm so glad that you were able to pull through all of that! I'm so proud of you for being so strong! Don't test your Magic out here in the open, okay, sweetie?" Ionia cooed, hugging him harder and harder. "Oh, Lucas-poo, I'm so happy that you decided to do this. Why don't you go talk to your mother before you go? Don't want to have her all worried, right?"

Lucas say her point. "Yeah, I think I'll do that. It's all so... startling."

"Going on an adventure is a big step, Lucas," Ionia said proudly, walking him down the path that led to his house. "It's a big step to take to manhood, you know."

Lucas looked up to see hir winking at him.

The two chatted and updated each other on their lives, before suddenly Ionia stopped, causing Lucas to as well. He looked up the path to see his mother already waiting at the front steps of his home with a very worried and upset expression on her face. Suddenly, the world came crashing down around him as reality occurred to him. He was leaving her. He'll be leaving her today to go find this first person.

"I should probably go now, Lucas," Ionia said to him, placing a hand on his shoulder and winking once more. "I'm sure this will not be the last time we see each other on this journey! I'll be traveling myself, you know. I can't trust Duster to even do my gardening, so... I'll be going after the Princess, too."

Ionia turned and headed down the path once again, and Lucas gulped.

"Mother..." he started, but he was cut off when she suddenly hugged him, crying into his shoulder.

"I know," she said, through her tears. "I know, baby. You have to go on your own, after your brother, don't you?"

"Aeolia told me that I was one of the Chosen Three, but I don't know what that means," he explained to her, as she let him go and wiped away her tears. "I don't know what I think about that. I've never even heard of the Chosen Three before."

"Long ago, Lucas, there were four kingdoms. One was named Eagleland, one was named Dalaam, one was named Osohe, ours, and one was named America. The four existed without incident until over eighty years ago, when the King and Queen of America suddenly disappeared and America was destroyed."

"... Aeolia said that Giegue caused it," Lucas brought up. "She also mentioned a Song of the Ancients."

Hinawa nodded. "It was supposed to have been a very beautiful song, and it was passed down in the American Royal Family for ages, but with the destruction of the country and the loss of its King and Queen, with them was lost the Song. Back to the story, however... Eighty years ago, the Queen of Eagleland had a terrible vision after the destruction of her fellow country. She spoke of three young boys who went on a perilous journey through the country to save the royal families and purge the world of the evil of their enemy."

Lucas gulped. "... How do you know this, Mom?"

His response was a smile from his mother. "Oh, Lucas. I've known ever since you were born. A few days after you and your brother were born, one of the Magypsies, Ionia, came to visit. She told me everything then, about how one of you was one of the Chosen Three. I suppose... I suppose she wanted me to prepare. But how do you prepare yourself for that?"

Lucas could only shrug. He didn't know, either.

* * *

A heartwrenching goodbye from his family later, Lucas stared out at the gates of Tazmilly. He tried to bring his trusty dog, Boney, with him, but, as both his father and his dog reminded him, Boney was needed to herd the sheep. His mother, however, let him take his stuffed rabbit, so that was good. The rabbit itself was stocked away in his backpack with all his supplies. His brain was ready with his new spells. His heart was ready to find his brother. His feet were not.

"... So I guess you're leaving, too, huh?"

Lucas looked behind him to see Wess standing there. He had a frown on his face. In Lucas' mind, the memories of his breakdown after realizing his son left flashed before his eyes.

"Um... yes sir," Lucas replied, gripping the handles to his backpack. "I'm going after my brother."

Wess nodded, clearly understanding what he meant. After Flint's frantic search for his son, everyone in town new of Claus' disappearance. "I see. Can you... You see... your mother asked me to give this to you. She forgot about it."

He held out a small envelope. Written on it in his mother's writing was the name _Duster_. Lucas took it carefully.

"I think it's more instructions about the mo... I mean, about my son's leg," Wess spoke. Lucas looked up at his sudden shift in term and noticed how sad he looked. "I... I also have something I want you to give him, that is, if you catch up to him at one point. Your mother seems to think that you will."

Lucas nodded quietly as Wess handed out another package, this one a small box wrapped somewhat quickly. Lucas stored them both carefully into his backpack next to his stuffed rabbit. As he prepared to leave again, Wess stopped him once more.

"Listen, I know what my son told you. I may be mad at the Magypsies for what they did, and I may dislike Magic, but I did not rat out Princess Kumatora. I would never stoop that low," he told him. "And before you go about blaming me, I didn't rat out Claus, either. I do, however, know who did."

Lucas' heart flared. "Who did it? Who told on the Princess and my brother?"

"It was Fassad, that newcomer," Wess explained. "It was him. When I was out there, watching you and your brother, I noticed that strange newbie wandering the streets with a big smile on his face, as if he had just heard the best news of his life. When I went to go see what it was, Claus mentioned what he could do."

So Duster was in the right to worry about Fassad's claims. But he had been in the wrong, too. It wasn't Wess who told on the Princess. Just the idea made Lucas' heart search out for Duster so he could tell him, tell him everything. That his father could be trusted.

"Please, Lucas. Find my son."

"I will, Wess. I promise." He even crossed his heart.

* * *

The walk was long. Lucas wondered how anyone could walk from one country to another.

Step, step, step.

The sun beat down.

The wind blew.

Step. Step. Step. Step.

The dirt path eventually turned to a grass one, and trees began to create shade for him, which he appreciated.

Lucas wondered how Duster did this. Lucas wondered how Fassad traveled to Tazmilly.

Lucas wondered how Claus was transported to Tanetane. Lucas wondered how Princess Kumatora was.

Step, step. Step, step.

Where was the next country? Was he in it yet?

... His throat was dry. He didn't know what to do. He was already out of water.

Lucas wondered what he should be doing, when he remembered that Aeolia told him the next person was to find him.

Well, where was he?

Where was this other person?

... Lucas collapsed.


	3. Ness

Living just outside of a busy, busy town was always really nice.

It was distant enough that one could see the skyline of the town, but didn't have to deal with the sounds. No car horns or alarms were heard from the window that Ness could peer out every day to see Onett. No screams or hollers or conversations, as people never walked past Ness' house unless they were after his father for some kind of job or advice. His parents weren't well known, but his father was a good businessman when he needed to be. Overall, the family wasn't well off (the family next door called them poor), but they were well enough that they could afford their home.

Ness was a typical thirteen year old in this neighbourhood. He loved baseball, he loved music, and he loved movies. He loved steak, he loved his family, he loved his dog. He loved his neighbourhood, he had a crush, and he had a treehouse. He was, however, different in one way that he had to keep it a secret, lest he wind up like that poor kid that was carted through town the other day.

Ness had Magic running through his veins. And he knew how to use it.

With a grunt he moved away from his window and threw on an outfit for today. He stepped out of his bedroom and made sure his sister, Tracy, was wide awake. After doing that, he headed down the stairs to see that his mom was already making breakfast. With a smile, she looked up at him and waved good morning, before turning back to the scrambled eggs that she was preparing.

"Morning, Mom!" he greeted happily, walking up to her and seeing what she was making. "I see you're making eggs this morning."

"That I am, Ness, thank you for pointing out the obvious," she teased, before she turned off the stove. "Did you listen to the radio this morning, yet?"

Ness, who was grabbing plates for the table setting, shook his head. "No, I haven't. Was it important?"

He watched as his mom nodded her head. "There was another disappearance. I think he went to the same school that you did."

The boy frowned slightly. That would make five kids from his school having gone missing, and, coincidently enough, all five of them were capable of using Magic. Ness wasn't stupid - he knew that Magic wasn't hereditary unless you somehow were descended from a royal family. It was more like a genetic fluke, or so explained one of his teachers when he had asked. Twins were more likely to get Magic than a single-born child, but if both parents had Magic, then there was a one in four chance of their child getting it, but even then... it was rare. Magic was known to run in Royal families.

Well, the teacher hadn't said that last part, but Princess Paula had. The two of them had accidentally connected with their Magic one summer night when they were enjoying the full moon from their windows. She spoke in such a soft voice in his head that he decided they were going to speak almost every night, and so they did. They had never once seen each other in person, they were secret friends, even to themselves. The only reason he even knew that she had blonde hair was because one night he had asked her. He didn't know what colour her eyes were.

Unlike the other Royal families, which used their next heirs as signs of hopes, and had them appear quite frequently, Princess Paula had been hidden away deep in her castle, only ever heard of or from, but never seen out in public. Princess Paula had explained to him that her father, the King, feared the outside world and the Magic haters, and feared Giygas, so he locked away in her own wing of the castle. She was only ever allowed to step outside if she had the royal guard with her. It infuriated her, and he knew that it did.

After a rather hearty breakfast, Ness decided he was going to go outside and play. He stepped outside and looked around the fields, looked down the road that led to Onett, and then, once he made his decision, decided to walk down to the town. Along the way, he was stopped by Frank, former gang leader and criminal of the town. Frank, who was now a friend of Ness' after he had his butt handed to him on a silver platter, seemed very upset by something and that worried Ness.

"What's wrong, Frank?" he asked instantly.

Frank was quiet for a moment, before he decided to come clean. "Well, it's simple as this, Ness. I got robbed."

Well, there was some irony for you. The former criminal got a taste of his old medicine. "... What. What happened?"

"Well, there was this guy limping through town. Never seen him before, never heard of him before, so I decided to be a good boy and help him out. I asked him if he needed me to take him to the hospital, because, hey, he's limping. He might be injured," Frank explained, telling his story with some hand gestures and even miming this man's walk. "The guy instantly explained how it was an old, childhood injury and that he had to live with it. I felt kind of bad after that, so I apologized but he just kind of chuckled and shook it off. Anyway, back to the point. So, I then ask this guy what he's doing in town and he tells me he's heading off to find a friend of his. Then, a car drives by and honks at me, so I decided to see who it was. I turn back, the guy's _gone_. And so's my wallet."

Ness felt that somewhere, there was a man with a limp cheering as he somehow ran down the road. "Geez, sorry to hear that, Frank. Was your ID in there?"

"Nah, I keep my ID and all that in a separate wallet. He took the wallet with roughly eighty bucks in it."

"_Eighty?_ Frank, you got eighty bucks _stolen _from you? By a man with a _limp_? What happened to you!?"

"It was me, trying to be friendly to some guy with a hurt leg, that's all it was," Frank pointed out. "I tried to be friendly, and look what the lump did. I'm going to _find that guy_, and I'm going to _beat him to a pulp_. I bet he was lying 'bout that friend of his that he used as a sob story."

With that, Ness watched as Frank stormed off with a huff. The boy chuckled nervousy, hoping that the thief could at least defend himself from the likes of Frank. After a moment of an amateur prayer to any limping thief that Frank met, Ness turned and began to walk back to Onett once more. Everything became quiet, save for the birds chirping around him. Many were having conversations that only Ness could understand, about the setting sun last night and the beautiful sunrise, about the dark shadows whisking children away, about the body of a boy one saw in the grass...

Ness stopped at those words. A body of a boy? He looked up at the bird and sent a message to it with his mind, desperate to know more.

'_Please, bird! Can you tell me more about this boy?_' he asked it politely.

The bird chirped back. "(Oh, of course, Ness! Everyone knows about you. The boy was just outside of Onett, I saw him when I was flying in. I landed by him and pecked him on the head, but he didn't really react...)"

Ness nodded at the information and quickly thanked it before running off toward Onett, racing across the streets and the lawns and grass. Eventually, he made it to the entrance of the town, right after the sign that said "Welcome to Onett". He stopped for a moment to rest, to catch his breath. As soon as he could breathe again, Ness looked up and noticed in the distance, a form passed out on the ground. Slowly, he stepped up to the lump in the road, and saw, to his surprise, a boy around his age, with blonde hair. His clothing seemed to fit that of the less technogically advanced countries rather than Onett.

Ness wondered for a moment what he should do, should he take this boy home? He didn't exactly have anything to drag him across town and to his house with. Magic was out of the question as he might get caught by the police or snagged along the way. Maybe he could find help? Or maybe...

He nudged the boy's face lightly with his foot. "Hey."

The boy remained silent.

He did it again. "Hey...! Hey, buddy, wake up."

* * *

_Fire. _

_Fire was everywhere, surrounding him. The smoke was trying to choke him.  
_

_From where he was, Lucas could see a cell, and inside was a boy of Dalaamese decent, with his hair braided back into a ponytail. He wore white clothing, pure white clothing. He was sitting down with his back against the wall, his legs laid out before them, his arms crossed before his stomach. Lucas reached out to him, but he didn't react. He stayed there, in the cell as the flames burned around him, as if he didn't care.  
_

_Why was he doing that? Didn't he see the dangers? The fire?  
_

_The scene shifted and Lucas became scared. Darkness surrounded him, and the flames from before swirled around to fit inside an oil lantern, which floated up above him, illuminating the face behind it.  
_

_"Duster?"  
_

_The man didn't see him. He limped through the darkness, the lantern lighting up the area around him. Cells adorned the walls, with various people cryng in them, sobbing, except for the Dalaamese boy. He was brave.  
_

_... But Duster kept walking through.  
_

_"No, Duster! Come back! I'm so scared!" Lucas cried out, chasing after the man, who eventually turned back around toward the Dalaamese boy. "Duster, please. Where are you? I need to know. I'm scared and I have to give you mom's instructions for your leg, and that present from your dad..."  
_

_Lucas watched as Duster and the Dalaamese boy had a staring contest. And still, he pleaded, even if Duster couldn't hear him. He wanted more than anything to be in the arms of an adult he trusted. He wanted to be in his mother's hold, but she was back home. Duster was the closest thing to a big brother that wasn't Claus that he had. And more than finding this second boy, he wanted Duster.__  
_

_"Duster, please. Where are you? Please tell me."  
_

_"_Hey._" A sudden voice.  
_

_Lucas jolted. Where was that voice coming from? It didn't sound like Duster. Who was it?  
_

_"_Hey...!_" Again!  
_

_"Hello?" Lucas called out, circling in his spot, trying to find the source. Duster and the Dalaamese boy continued their staring contest.  
_

_"_Hey, buddy,_" called the voice.  
_

_"Yes?" Lucas replied.  
_

_"_... wake up._"  
_

_"I can't!" Lucas called out with all his might. "I can't wake up! This is a prophetic dream, and the last two times, a Magypsy was the one who woke me from it! I don't know how to end it!"  
_

_Fire began to circle around him. The type of fire... It was reminding him of the kind that Claus could summon.  
_

_"Please! Help me! I can't wake up, I'm trapped until the visions end..."  
_

_The fire grew intense. Lucas could feel the heat.  
_

_"Please!"  
_

_"You're having dreams of the future?" This voice. It sounded like the kind that Aeolia used to speak to him in his dream. It was the same person, Lucas could tell. It just... sounded more personal, more close. "So you're a Magic User?"  
_

_"Yes!" Lucas replied instantly, and then he covered his mouth in shame. He had promised Duster that he wouldn't tell a soul. He had then promised the same thing to his mother, and he even crossed his heart. "You... you won't be mad, will you? I promised my mother and my friend that I wouldn't tell anyone."  
_

_"Your secret's safe with me," said the voice. "You see, I can do Magic, too, so it's okay. I understand the point of secrecy."  
_

_"So, if you're a Magic User, then you can help me! I'm trapped, I just learned about my powers recently, I can't control it." Lucas felt a little better about breaking his promise, but he was still ashamed that he had broken it that easily. He made a promise with himself then. No telling. No telling at all unless he knew he could trust the person in question. And no telling Duster and his mother that he had done it.  
_

_The voice was quiet for a moment. "I could wake you up, here... let me give you a little push."_

* * *

Ness opened his eyes.

Another Magic User. This blonde, he had prophetic dreams. Such a gift with Magic Users was rare, or so said Princess Paula, who sometimes had a few herself. She told him one night that she had horrible vision one day about fire, a thief, and the Prince of Dalaam, a friend of hers that went missing three years ago. She had never gotten over it, and even now, every once in a while, she'd tell Ness how worried she was about "Pu". This boy here, he seemed more powerful than he led on, possibly up to par with Ness and Princess Paula.

The blonde then opened his own eyes, blinking slowly before letting out a sigh of relief. "Good... it's over. Thank you..." He looked over at Ness and gave a small smile, before he sat up slowly, clearly drained. "I'm Lucas."

"My name's Ness," replied Ness with a small smile of his own. "It's nice to meet you, Lucas. Where'd you come from?"

"I'm from the village of Tazmilly, just near the Osohe Castle," Lucas replied softly. "I went on a journey after my brother got snatched, so I'm looking for him. I'm also looking for a friend who went after our Princess, Kumatora, because she also got captured."

Ness felt like fainting. Now her, too? Who was next, Princess Paula? "The Osohe Princess is gone?! When are they going to stop?"

"I don't know," admitted Lucas softly. "But I intend to somehow stop it. ... ... Somehow."

"Your voice is kind of scratchy," Ness pointed out. "Did you want something to drink? I can get you something. There's a nice soda shoppe just in town."

"So... da?" The word was alien to Lucas.

"You know, like pop. It's a soft drink. Carbonated, flavoured water in a way. It's good stuff. You don't have those?"

Lucas only shook his head.

Ness gave a laugh. "Well, we are a bit technologically advanced, so I guess that makes sense! Come on, I'll just get you a bottled water, then. Don't want to destroy your taste buds."

Ness led the way for Lucas down the road, back toward town. People eyed Lucas strangely as he was wearing alien clothing. Osohe was more like a kingdom set in a mix of the middle ages and Victorian eras, so it made some kind of sense to Ness as he tried his best to hide the newcomer to town. After getting him a few drinks, as Lucas quickly finished two bottles, Ness led him back home.

The two boys slowly stepped through the door to find Ness' mother in the kitchen, cleaning up. Ness stepped up to her, gesturing to Lucas.

"Hey, mom. Is it okay that my friend Lucas stays over for the night?"

Ness' mother turned around then and gave him a look over. "Well, he'll have to clean up, first, Ness. But, certainly."

Ness gave a big grin. "Thanks, mom! I'll take him to the bathroom." He turned to Lucas with a smile. "Come on! Mom's orders."

Lucas, meanwhile, was holding back tears. Watching his new friend interact with his mother made him think of his own. The one that he left behind in the now distant Tazmilly Village with his father, with only old man Wess as company, with his dog Boney. Was she okay? How was she and his dad coping without the twins? Were the Magypsies crying over Princess Kumatora having been kidnapped? Was old man Wess missing Duster, too?

Ness poked him, blinking him away from his imaginary word. "Come on, this way."

"R-Right..." Lucas voiced, following him down the hall.

It took a moment of Ness explaining how the plumbing worked, but eventually Lucas got showered and all clean. He changed his clothes to clean ones that he had packed, and Ness' mom had offered to clean his dirty ones. As they were in the wash, the family sat down for some tea and juice and invited Lucas to sit with them. Ness' mom explained to him the rules of the house that he would have to follow as he stayed for the night, and Tracy asked many questions about what Tazmilly was like. Ness then asked what the two people he was looking for looked like, and Lucas grew quiet for a moment.

"Well," he started, "Claus, my brother, looks just like me. We're twins. The only difference is his hair colour is orange."

"Oh, so he's a carrot-top," piped Tracy. "That's neat!"

"And your friend?" Ness asked, butting in.

"Well, he's tall. About as tall as your mom. He's older than me, see. He has light brown hair, some townspeople have mistake it for blonde," Lucas explained. "He'd be easy to pick out in a crowd. He's unhealthily thin and he hurt his leg a long time ago, too, so he has a limp."

Ness paused at that, recalling Frank's words from that morning. A man with a limp had robbed him of his wallet. A man with a limp that told him it was caused by an old injury and that he was looking for a friend. Lucas described just now a friend that he was looking for, that went after Princess Kumatora. That had a limp. From an old injury. Coincidence? Ness didn't think so. He figured the two were describing the same man. He decided not to bring it up, though. He wasn't sure how Lucas would react to hearing a man that completely matched his friend's description had robbed a friend.

"Well, I'll be sure to keep an eye out for them," Ness' mother commented, stirring sugar into her tea. "You are brave, Lucas, coming out this far to find your friend and brother."

"They mean a lot to me," Lucas said with a shy smile. "Claus is my best friend and Duster acts a lot like our older brother sometimes."

"Is he the one that you promised that you wouldn't tell?" Ness asked suddenly, causing Lucas to panic. "Hey, it's okay! My family knows, they're cool with it."

"Oh, is he Magical, too, Ness?" Tracy asked happily.

Lucas hesitated, becoming red faced. He looked down in shame. At this rate, the entire world will know. "Duster and my mom made me promise I wouldn't tell. I broke it so easily with you..."

"Magic Users always feel a feeling of trust when they're Magic is aligned the same way," Ness' mother explained, before she took a sip of her tea. "Ness is a aligned with the same type as you, I suppose. The type of Light."

Light and Dark Magic were well known. Dark Magic was associated with the art of Scientific Alchemy - Chimeras, being the main result of this Dark Magic, along with the things that Giygas could cause, such as zombies, people's thoughts and actions becoming negative, and, like one time eighty years ago, enveloping the world in darkness. Light was more associated with the things that the Magypsies and the Royal families could do, with their powers.

"Still doesn't help the fact that I broke a promise," Lucas muttered. "Duster was only trying to help, he didn't want us snatched like Princess Kumatora. But mom... she was worried, scared. I even crossed my heart."

"Promises can break, but they can be re-mended," Ness' mother continued. "How about this: You two boys promise me that you will not speak a word to anyone about your Magic, unless they are also Magic Users, and they have told you first?"

Lucas instantly nodded to the new terms of his promise. He'll have to tell Duster when he remet with him. Ness, meanwhile, laughed and scratched the back of his head, having already promised this.

The day went on from there, Lucas biding his time as he waited for tomorrow. Dinner consisted of steak and vegetables, something which Ness gobbled down rather quickly, much to the amusement of his sister and mother. Nighttime fell and Ness' mother set up a mattress in Ness' room with sheets, blankets and a pillow. After returning his now clean clothes, she smiled and closed the door behind her.

Lucas watched as Ness got up from his bed and headed over to the window. "What are you doing?"

"I'm waiting," he responded, placing his hands on the window sill. "Every night, Princess Paula and I have a short chat before bed. I talk to her, you know, with my head. We use Magic to do it."

"You're friends with the Princess?" Lucas was amazed. "I've met our Princess, too. I've played with her plenty of times. Duster's closer to her, though."

"The only difference is I've never met her face to face," Ness admitted. "It was an accident, she had been desperate to complain to someone about her father, and I heard her. Ever since then, we're each other's confidant."

"_Ness? Are you awake?_"

"Ah, there she is!" Ness exclaimed happily. "_Yes! I'm here._"

Lucas blinked, having not heard anything. "Well, I'm going to bed, then. I'm tired."

"Yeah, you've had a long day. Good night!" Ness replied, turning back to him briefly. He then turned back to the stars, waiting for his friend's next message.

"_Ness, I have something to tell you,_" Princess Paula admitted after a short pause. "_Have you heard about Osohe? Their Princess has gone missing._"

"_Yeah, actually. I met a boy from there, today. He's out looking for his twin and a friend that went after her. Did you know her?_"

There was another pause. Ness had learned over time that there was sometimes a lag between the two of them, and had gotten used to it. "_Kumatora was a dear friend of mine. We never saw each other that much, but we were always a nice breather after dealing with our families. I was sad when I heard about her._"

"_Do you fear that you're next? If you do, I'll go after you._"

"_I do fear that I'm next, Ness. It scares me. I don't want to disappear from these walls. Knowing you'll come after me... It helps._"

Ness closed his eyes, focusing on his next message. "_What about Princess Ana? Has she been targeted?_"

He could tell from the air of the next message that Princess Paula appreciated the distraction. "_She tells me she has a plan in her letters. She'll send out a call when she fears she'll be attacked, and hopefully, a 'knight in shining armour', as she puts it, not me, will come after her and save the day. I tell her her plan is absurd, but..._"

"_Seeing as that's how these nightly talks started, I don't think you have much room to talk, Princess, no offense._"

He felt a tickle in his mind slightly, and knew she had giggled. "_Of course. I'm being slightly hypocritical. But, to be honest, it is a somewhat flawed plan. Phoenix does not have as many Magic-borne Users as Eagleland or Osohe, so I am worried that her plan might not work._"

"_She might not get what she's expecting, either._"

"_There is that, too._"

The night was quiet for a moment, and Ness felt her presence somewhat retract from him. She was being distracted, possibly from a council member or a servant. It happened occassionaly. He waited paitently for her return.

"_Ness._"

"_Yes?_"

"_Ness, it's my turn to go. I hear them._"

Alarm swelled inside of him. "_What? I'll come after you! Paula, please -_"

Silence. He couldn't feel her anymore. Princess Paula was gone.

It'd be pointless to wake Lucas. He had a long day, he was tired. He was tired, too. He couldn't start a journey like that. Swiftly, he grabbed his backpack and packed a few essentials - clothes, his bat, his lucky hat, and prepared it for tomorrow. He set his alarm for earlier, so his mom wouldn't be up, and grabbed his wallet, tossing it in his bag. Ness then curled up in his blankets, and tried to get some sleep. Princess Paula's emotionless voice swam through his mind in his dreams.

_"Ness, it's my turn to go."__  
_

* * *

The alarm rang at a low tone, low enough that Tracy and Ness' mother wouldn't be able to hear it. Ness hit the button and got up, seeing that it had at least woken Lucas up, who wasn't thrilled.

"What's that for...?" he asked tiredly, rubbing away at the sleep in his eyes. "It's still dark out."

"Last night, Princess Paula was taken. She said she heard them, and then she severed the connection. I'm going with you." Ness got up from his bed and started to get dressed as he said everything. "You're not stopping me, either, I'd just follow you."

Lucas was wide awake now as he explained. "So..."

Of course.

Aeolia. S/he had said that the first person would find him. Ness had found him on the road, and he was a Magic User. Now all he needed was instructions to finding the last chosen one. Lucas gave a small smile at this and nodded, getting a smile back from Ness.

The two got ready quietly, and tiptoed across the hall and down the stairs, where Ness took some bread from the bread box and bottles of water from the fridge. He also claimed some crackers, cookies, and strips of meat he called "beef jerky". After making sure that King understood that he was not coming, the two slipped out the door.

Lucas had learned that the home next to the family's had long since been abandoned by the Minch family. The family name was so familiar to Lucas that it somewhat bothered him, but he had decided to keep it to himself. Ness had explained that they had almost abanonded the youngest son there when they had left, a Picky Minch, but the mother had remembered and had returned for him. It was clear that Ness had felt sorry for Picky.

"If I miss any of them, it's Picky," Ness mentioned as they walked past. Police sirens could be heard in the distance as they walked down the road. "He was always the nicer of the two. Pokey was just a jerk."

"I can't say we have anyone like that back in Tazmilly," Lucas admitted, but he bit back a slight remark on Wess. "Everyone's generally nice there."

"It sounds like a nice place. Maybe sometime we can visit."

"Maybe our journey will take us there," Lucas hoped. "We're just kind of following the road at the moment, who knows?"

"Well, the best place to go next would be Phoenix. Princess Paula said that Princess Ana feared she would be next, and guess what. She's the last royal family member they haven't gotten yet," Ness revealed gesturing down the road. "Phoenix is just down here. It's a bit of a walk, but we can always duck into a barn to take a nap. It is farm country mostly."

Lucas nodded in agreement, and together, the two headed to their destiny.


	4. An Asthmatic and a Thief

Two hands clasped each other in a silent prayer.

Princess Ana was different from the other Princesses and Prince Pu. They had inherited their powers from their parents, who had inherited theirs from their parents, and so on. But Princess Ana was different. Her parents didn't have Magic, and neither did their parents, and so on. Princess Ana's capabilities with Magic had been a genetic fluke, and she knew that it had been. She was just some pretender, playing Princess until the true heir to King George and Queen Maria's throne arrived to claim it. She was meant as some protector. Protecting the throne until it was time.

Her father was as kind a man as could be possible, putting so much faith and trust into her the moment he knew she would keep her word. When he said that he wanted her to be careful, she devised a plan to ensure her safety. She didn't want to end up like Pu, Kumatora and Paula, her old playmates. Prince Pu had been gone for three years now, one of the first to disappear when Giygas began his kidnappings.

Three years. It was hard to believe that was all. It felt much longer to Princess Ana. She was terrified.

Word of Princess Paula's disappearance had spred quick, and she knew, now was the time. Princess Ana breathed a short prayer for the safety of her hero, and closed her eyes, bowing her head to look down at the floor through her eyelids. With her mind, she called out to the world outside her castle walls, called out for someone to come and sweep her off her feet and take her out of the place before Giygas' forces did. Someone to come save her from the terrors she was sure awaited her in the walls of Giygas' hold. Someone to just come save her.

_Please. Please come save me.  
Please come save me before he comes.  
Please, I await you. _

* * *

It had been a day now. Ness wasn't sure how his mom had reacted to his sudden disappearance, but he was sure she would understand after she had heard about Princess Paula. She knew all about their friendship, so to speak, and he was sure that she would understand his motives behind his leaving. He wasn't the type to just run away, after all.

The two walked down the dirt paths that made up the road. They had reached Phoenix at around the call of evening, and had made good time due to leaving early. Lucas waddled behind Ness with a smile, glad for some company even if there wasn't much conversation going on between them. The sun beat down, but it didn't bother them, due to Ness' bottles of waters, which had reduced in number slightly since they left.

They stopped for a quick meal of some bread and cookies, waving at a traveling salesman that passed by. Lucas kept getting excited each time they got close to another traveler, hoping, just _hoping_, that the next person that they would see would be Duster. He longed to give him his mother's letter, with the neat writing sprawling his name across the envelope, and the small, hastily wrapped box from Wess. He wondered what was inside. Duster would probably say a bomb. Lucas laughed slightly. If it had been, it would have gone by now, that was for sure.

Eventually it grew very dark and Ness took hold of Lucas' hands, pointing off at a nearby barn. "Let's sleep there, I'm sure there's probably hay inside we can use as beds."

"Are you sure?" Lucas asked as they walked toward it, noticing the house close by with some lights on. "They might get mad."

"They probably get travelers sleeping in here all the time," Ness supposed, opening the door slightly. "They're probably used to it by now. There's lots of hobos in Phoenix, didn't you know?"

"... I thought that was just a myth."

"Well, it might be, but the point is that I'm tired. Let's just go to sleep."

The two stepped inside, Lucas somewhat timidly. Huddling up on some clumps of hay, the two closed their eyes and began to sleep. Outside, an owl hooted. At the house nearby, the lights turned off.

In Eagleland, Tracy and her mom sighed out of sadness, realizing that Ness was gone, and why after seeing the newspaper. The two resigned to their misfortune, hugging each other for support. The King and Queen gave each other their support as they prayed for their daughter, hoping for Princess Paula's safe return. The towns weeped for the loss of their princess, the gangs even retreated to their bases, giving the world a break to mourn the loss.

In Osohe, the Magypsies circled each other and used their Magic powers, praying that the Chosen Three would meet, and soon. Wess stepped around his home without direction, looking out at the night sky. He wondered to himself if his son was looking up at the same one. In their home, Flint and Hinawa were keeping themselves busy, Flint spinning wool and Hinawa making so many blankets and children's clothes, she didn't know what to do with them. It was their attempt at keeping their minds distracted.

And in her castle, Princess Ana prayed for her safety, calling out to the one destined to save her.

And in the farmhouse nearby the barn, a light on the second floor turned on.

* * *

A splash of water suddenly impacted Lucas and Ness' faces, waking them up instantly, sputtering to get the water out of their mouths.

"What the!" exclaimed Ness, wiping his eyes. He opened them and looked up to see a boy looking a little like him, a farmboy perhaps, with a bandanna tied lightly around his neck. He was flanked by two identical twin girls. "What? Who are you?"

"The children of the people who own this place," the boy announced. "You're trespassing. Get out."

"Yeeeeeaaaaaah!" exclaimed the girls. "Get out! Get out!"

"We're sorry," stuttered Lucas. "We were looking for shelter. It was cold last night... We'll get out. I promise."

"I'd much rather it be _before _my mother discovers you're here," the boy stated quickly. "I'm not sure what'd she do, this is a first."

"We just came to help brother milk the cow!" stated one twin girl. "We didn't expect people sleeping in our cow's hay!"

"Yeah, this is new!" stated the other. "It's best you leave! We don't know what the punishment is!"

A nearby cow mooed. Lucas figured it was the one they were talking about. "(Oh, hush, hush,)" said the cow. "(You know your mother is a sweet hen, Ninten.)"

"What do you know, Bessie?" 'Ninten' snapped back. "You're just a cow."

"(I've known your family for quite some time,)" mooed Bessie. "(Your mother will be sweet to them.)"

"What's she saying? What's she saying?"

'Ninten' was quiet for a moment, staring blankly as he always had straight at the intruders, bucket still in hand. "... She said that she thinks mom would be okay with them. What do you two think?"

"It's mom, it's mom!" the two chorused, instead of replying. The twins rushed to the door as the boy merely turned his head to the direction.

Lucas took a good look at him and slightly grimaced. He didn't look well at all, almost as if he had just recovered from an illness or an injury. He was thin and appeared breakable, like a porcelain doll. His skin was awfully pale. Lucas looked over at Ness, who, if his facial expression was saying anything, had come to the same conclusions as he had.

A tall blonde woman stepped into the barn, being dragged over by the twins. She gasped at the sight of the two boys and immediately turned to the boy.

"Ninten! Why are they wet?" The tone that she used was accusing, and she placed her hands at her hips, leaning forward down at him with a frown. "Was this your doing, Ninten? You should know better."

The boy merely lowered his head. "Yes, mother."

"Just because you recovered from your pneumonia doesn't mean I'm letting you off the hook," his mother chided. "You help these boys inside, and mind your breathing! Don't stress yourself, remember what that does to you. I'll milk the cow." She took the bucket from her son and shooed him away. "Don't forget to introduce yourself and be a good boy and tell your Grandpa Jake that I'll be awhile."

"... Yes, mother."

"Late breakfast today, Ninten, is that okay?" she continued on, setting a stool by the cow.

"It's fine, mother." The boy was quiet after that and turned to Lucas and Ness. "Come on, then. Best not disobey my mother. Come inside, we'll get you cleaned up."

* * *

Introductions that occurred while walking the path to the door confirmed the boy's name was Ninten. He explained that his sisters' names were Mimmie and Minnie, but he didn't specify which one was which. Lucas suspected that he may have actually not really known. He explained a little bit about his family in short, curt sentences, clearly saving his breathing for the walking.

His mother had come from Eagleland. His father was from Phoenix, and his father's father lived with them. His twin sisters were younger by roughly two years and Ninten was seen as the black sheep in the family. He grew quiet at that before finally admitting why when they reached the door.

"... You see, I have asthma, and a weak immune system," he said softly. "There's not much I can help with on the farm, now is there?"

"I'm sure you'll find something," Ness offered, until his stomach growled rather hungrily.

Ninten raised an eyebrow. "... If you're planning on staying for something to eat, I'm sure my mother won't mind, but it's going to be a bit late today, as she said."

"Why's that?" Lucas asked, his own stomach grumbling.

"Well, I didn't get to milk the cow," Ninten offered. "But I think it's because we're shifting back into regular routine. For awhile there, the family was focused on me. I fell into the ice cold lake nearby and contracted pneumonia."

The two boys were silent.

"... That's awful," Ness admitted. It was beginning to get cooler as the world cooled down. Before long, they would be camping out in the snow. "At least you're okay."

Ninten nodded, agreeing instantly. "I'm sure there were... _other_ factors in my getting better."

The three of them were standing in the kitchen now, as Ninten prepared hot drinks for them all. An old gentleman then stepped into the room, clearly having heard the conversation, as he started with:

"Well, of _course _there were other factors, Ninten! Why, I once survived a hoe to the head once, did I ever tell you about that?"

"Plenty of times, Grandpa Jake," Ninten said offhandedly, serving the tea. "Oh, and these are our guests, Ness and Lucas."

"Pleasure!" piped the grandfather.

"Oh - and mother said she'd be awhile, Bessie was being mean," Ninten quickly said. Lucas caught sound of what sounded like his stomach. Guess he and Ness weren't the only ones looking forward to breakfast.

"Oh, darn," the grandfather lamented, sitting down at the kitchen table. "I was hoping breakfast would be on time. I do love your mother's oatmeal. And, you need to eat, too, boy." He poked Ninten in the rib with the cane that he was holding. "You barely ate a thing while you were sick in bed, you must be starving, you poor thing!"

"I'm fine, grandpa."

"That's what you said last year, too. And what happened then? You walk down the simple path to the barn and suffer an attack of your asthma. Boy, I know your Magic is strong, but it's not enough to save you all the time. Sometimes you need to _listen _to what the doctors have to say."

Ness and Lucas immediately closed their mouths at the old man's words. Magic? Ninten could use Magic? It wasn't exactly something that they had expected to learn while staying here. Lucas watched as Ninten's face fell, his lips forming into a small frown before he abruptly turned to the fridge nearby and opened it.

"Grandpa, you need to learn to keep your trap shut. We have visitors," Ninten scolded, taking out a milk bottle. "Ness, Lucas, don't mind my Grandpa Jake. He's a little crazy."

Grandpa Jake laughed outright, his fist pounding against the kitchen table. "A _little _crazy? Ninten, you make me sound better than I really am. I laugh at that." He straightened his back and turned to the two visitors at the table, a stern look in his eye. "Now, listen here, the two of you. One thing you need to know about this family is Magic runs through our veins. We're not about to let you go around telling those Giygas follower folk about us because we'll kill you and feed you to the dogs, _you hear me_?"

Lucas gulped. Ness' eyes widened to the size of cup saucers. Ninten turned to his grandfather in alarm.

"Grandpa Jake! Mother told you to behave when we have guests!"

"She may have told me that, but last I checked she doesn't scare me," Grandpa Jake laughed, pounding his fist against the table again. "And another thing, she's not exactly my daughter, either. Last I checked I was your paternal grandparent, not maternal. And yet that woman always believed that she could control me in some way or form and I never understood who put that idea in her head. Now that I think about it, it might have been your father."

Needless to say, an argument broke out between Ninten and his grandfather, one that lasted up until Ninten's mother stepped through the door with the new milk, followed by Mimmie and Minnie. She frowned and placed the bucket on the table, and stepped up to the two squabbling boys, and pulled on one ear each.

"That's enough from you two," she stated coldly. "Ninten, I believe I asked you to try to be a little more mature."

Ninten sighed and nodded.

"I see you offered our two guests something hot to drink," Ninten's mother stated, softening her look and releasing her hold on her son and father-in-law. "So, you two, what are you doing all the way out here, if you decided to sleep in our barn?"

"We're um... looking for our friends. They were taken," Lucas admitted, peering down at his tea. He could see his reflection in the liquid.

Grandpa Jake hummed a little. "I suspect they're Magical, Helena. Just like me, and your children and your husband. Probably why their friends were taken in the first place."

"The Royals have been getting targeted and Princess Kumatora and Princess Paula have been taken," Ness brought up sternly. "We suspect that your Princess is next."

The entire family grew quiet.

Ninten's mother looked up from her tea. "You mean, Princess Ana? That's awful."

A scraping of a chair alerted Ninten sitting down next to her. "I've been having odd dreams lately - I hear a voice, calling out asking for help. Do you think it might have been her?"

"If you think, even for a second, young man, that you are going out there and saving her, you think again," Ninten's mother scolded. "You just recovered from pneumonia. You are not charging headfirst into the castle grounds, do you hear me?"

Lucas watched as Ninten's face formed a bit of a frown, and he looked away with clearly some anger. For a moment, he wondered if Ninten was possibly the third of the Chosen Three... But why would the legends pick a boy that clearly had some health issues? Asthma, and falling ill, recovering from pneumonia... Why would whoever wrote the legends or the roads and paths that the people of Nowhere Islands took pick such a sickly boy to help save the world from Giygas? It made no sense...

* * *

... and neither did what happened that evening.

Ninten's mother had insisted that the two boys clean up and stay the night before they started on their journey again. She took the boys' clothes, gave them some of Ninten's, and began to wash their dirty outfits for the night. The two of them had also been forced to take a bath and get the grime and dirt rubbed right off of them, though Lucas had appreciated being able to look cleaner and nicer. Lucas and Ness sat on the couch wearing Ninten's old clothes, and chatted with him and his sisters for a bit while Ninten's mother prepared supper. Grandpa Jake had fallen asleep in his chair.

Knocking on the door resulted in Ninten excusing himself from the conversation, leaving Lucas and Ness along with Mimmie and Minnie, who started hounding the two over what spells they knew. The twins revealed that Mimmie knew Fire, while Minnie could use Ice.

Ninten, meanwhile, opened up the front door to find a very angered neighbour.

"Oh. Kent. What's wrong?" he asked, a concerned look coming to him.

"Have you seen any shady characters around here? My food storage has been pilfered! I'm missing a loaf of bread, and a bottle of milk!" Kent immediately hollered. "There's a thief in town, boy. Warn your mother."

Lucas' ears immediately left the conversation with the twins and Ness, turning to Ninten's. A thief? Could it be...?

"When did the thief come by?" Ninten asked.

"I'd suppose last night. But it could have been any time since last night to right now. I didn't check until about fifteen minutes ago - the door was closed and everything was still in its place except for one loaf of bread and one milk bottle."

Lucas had to smile. It was Duster. He always made sure he only touched what he was taking. If what the man said was true, than he was around somewhere and Lucas could go find him. Sad thing was, Ninten's mother was very adamant that he and Ness stay indoors until their clothes were dry, so he'd probably miss him. Another thing to keep in mind, Lucas realized, was that Duster almost _never_ stole food. He always stole money or bartering items. It caused a frown instead of his smile. If Duster was stealing food... then he was desperate.

The realization caused Lucas to stand up, startling Ness and the twins.

"Lucas?" Ness asked instantly.

"That neighbour of Ninten's. He said he had thief," Lucas reported. His fists clenched. "My friend, Duster. He's a thief. He stole food, and he almost never does that. He must be starving. Ness, we have to find him."

Ness' look earned him a confused one.

"Ness?"

"So wait, that _was _your friend that stole eighty bucks from Frank?"

"... Duster stole money from a friend of yours?"

"Yeah. Frank was mad."

Lucas shook his head, a small smile on his face. "I'd apologize on his behalf, but the idea that he's nearby... I have to go out and look for him."

"Mom's almost done supper, though," Mimmie pointed out.

"You're not leaving are you?" Minnie added, gaining a sad look.

Once again, Lucas shook his head. "No, I'll be right back. It's just... a friend of mine is in trouble. I want to see if I can find him."

Ness stood up then as Ninten closed the front door, having managed to calm Kent down. "Well, you're not going alone. I'll come with you." He pounded his chest with a fist proudly. "Let's try and be quick about it. If we're lucky, it happened recently and not last night."

"What are you two plotting?" Ninten suddenly asked, having showed up beside Lucas. "I see you overheard what Kent had told me about his little food storage thief."

"Lucas thinks that the thief was a friend of his - a young man named Duster. He only steals food if he's desperate though, so Lucas is worried," explained Ness, even gesturing to Lucas as he said his name. "I'm going to help Lucas go out and look for him for a little bit before supper."

Ninten was quiet for a moment, as he looked down in thought. "Well, it wouldn't be right to just leave him out there, if he's going hungry. Mother doesn't like it when people have to go through that, either. Let's go see if we can find him."

* * *

The three boys went and told Ninten's mother that they were heading out to enjoy the rest of the sun. Instead, they bolted nearby to Kent's house to investigate the scene of the crime, after stopping for a moment to let Ninten recollect his breath. They scouted the nearby area around the food storage, with Ness discovering boot prints in the mud.

"He went this way!" he called out, gathering the attention of the blonde and the other ravenette. "Come on!"

Together the boys followed the trail that Duster had left behind, Lucas beginning to panic out of worry, wondering what kind of state that his friend was in. He always tended to worry about Duster regardless, especially back at home where he was only mostly out at night pickpocketing visitors to the castle that he knew Princess Kumatora didn't like. He and Wess were known as the night owls of Tazmilly, and for good reason.

Eventually the group stopped at a curled up form by a tree. Lucas approached slowly and knelt down before the form, giving a light nudge. A groan came from the figure as it moved, and Ness and Ninten watched as Lucas exclaimed in delight. They watched as he completely tackled the man that had decided to take a nap by Ninten's neighbour's home almost to the ground.

"Duster!" exclaimed Lucas. "Oh, Duster, I found you, I found you!"

Lucas was so happy to finally hug the man before him. Finally, after three days on his own out here, there was a man, an adult, just somebody that he knew, loved and cared about. He felt his heart swell when finally, Duster wrapped his arms around him in return. He'd been gone for how long now? Lucas had lost count. He left the day that he had learned that he had Magic. Two days later, Claus had the accident with Fuel. The very next day, he had been snatched. Lucas left the day after, but it felt like he had waited weeks due to being so upset. Point was, though, Lucas hadn't seen Duster for a week.

"... What the hey are you doing out here...?" Duster muttered, loosening his hold on Lucas.

Lucas looked up into Duster's tired eyes, his own already tearing up. "... Claus... Claus got snatched. It was Fassad, he had tattled on my brother."

The three boys all watched as Duster groaned and rubbed his eyes. "... Are you kidding? I told you two to..."

"I know, I know! It was an accident! Claus got in a fight with Fuel and set his hair on fire!"

He got an odd look from Duster that lasted a moment. "... What? I wish I was there to see that."

"Oh!" Lucas straightened and sat down beside him, gesturing to his new friends. "These are my new friends, Duster. This is Ness, on the left, and Ninten, on the right! They're both Magic Users, too! Ness is helping me find Claus, and I'm helping him find Princess Paula. Speaking of that... How goes the search for Princess Kumatora?"

They all watched as his face fell. Lucas' heart sank. "... Not good. I had a good trail for a while, but I lost it a short while back. I got tired and hungry, so I decided to sleep around here."

"... And steal from my neighbour," Ninten pointed out.

"I'm not proud of it. I don't usually steal food," Duster replied to it, rubbing his eyes again. Lucas whimpered slightly. "But, the journey's been hard on me, and I haven't been taking care of myself as well as I should be."

The words caused Lucas worry. He let go of Duster completely and backed away, taking a good look at his older friend. Once again, the young man had lost weight in the time that they haven't seen each other. He looked even more exhausted, like he hadn't slept at all since he had left, and had gained bags under his eyes.

"... How's your leg?" he asked.

Duster looked up at Lucas with a weak smile. "... It's been alright, don't worry. I've been using your mother's medicine."

"And your brace?"

In response, Duster tapped his bad leg, the sound occurring being unnatural. He was wearing it.

"Duster," started Ninten. "Would you like to come over to my place? My mother will be more than glad to accommodate for you for supper."

Duster looked over at the other boy with a slightly pained look, and for a moment, Lucas feared that he would said "No" to the boy's offer. Ninten also looked a little worried when the young thief didn't reply right away.

"Duster?" asked Lucas, prompting a reply.

A sigh and more rubbing at the eyes occurred. Finally, Duster gave his answer. "... I suppose it wouldn't hurt. I could use something to eat."

"It's wonderful that you agree with me," Ninten stated calmly with a small smile. He then held out a hand to the thief. "Come on, let's head back to my home. I'm sure mother won't mind at all and will be pleased to meet you."

* * *

Ninten couldn't have been more right. His mother had taken to Duster immediately, rushing him inside and sitting him down at the kitchen table almost immediately, placing food in front of him and even offering to fix the holes and rips in his cloak. She gave him, Lucas and Ness a tad more food than she gave everyone else, and even struck a few conversations with Duster that he seemed to appreciate. Grandpa Jake spent most of the time conversing with the boys, telling Lucas about Magic and even teaching him a stronger form of Healing. Ninten stayed quiet through most of it, but it was clear that he appreciated the company.

Soon, it was nighttime and Ninten's mother stepped down the stairs with a few blankets in her arms. "Everyone, time for bed, come on."

The twins groaned by slouched away to their rooms.

Ninten's mother, meanwhile, approached the boys sitting around Duster. "Ninten, if you want, you can bunk with them. I wouldn't blame you - they're a nice bunch. Ness, Lucas, Duster, I'm afraid I only have one spare room, but with Ninten's room right next to it, I guess one of you can sleep in his room. I have an extra mattress."

"What type of bed's in the spare room?" Ness asked curiously. He was considering the mattress.

"It's a double," Ninten explained, turning to him. "It's usually meant for when my mother's mother is over."

"That's right," Ninten's mother said happily. "Come on then, I'll show you the way."

She led them up the stairs and down the hall, showing them Ninten's room, which already had a mattress placed on the floor, and the spare room, a bedroom with the colour scheme consisting of baby pink and lilac, clearly meant for a woman. Eventually it was decided that Lucas would get the double, Duster would bunk with him, and Ness would take the mattress. After she left to head to her own bed, Ness and Ninten invaded the guest room.

"I want to come with you when you leave," Ninten announced. "I know that, somehow, the Princess is trying to get my attention, or at least anyone's. She needs help and I want to give that somehow. I've never met her... but if she needs help, I need to give it."

"Your mom kind of made it obvious that she didn't want you going," Ness pointed out as he climbed onto the bed in front of Duster. They were all crowding around on it. "You'd be kind of going against her wishes, wouldn't you? It's never really good to do that, I mean... I don't even know how my mom is handling me leaving to find Princess Paula."

Lucas looked down at his bag as they spoke, taking out his stuffed rabbit. He was thinking of home - of his mother, his father, his dog Boney, of his mother's omelettes and how much he missed them. How long would it be before he got to return to her arms?

A hand was placed on his shoulder and he looked up to see Duster and the others looking at him in worry.

"You brought Rabbity?" Duster even asked.

"Mom wouldn't let me take Boney, so she said I could take Rabbity," Lucas explained, hugging the rabbit. "I miss her so much, Duster."

"I'm sure you do, it must have been hard to leave her like you did," Duster replied, placing a hand on his back. "Keep in mind - when all this is over and we get Claus and Kuma back, you can go right back to her. We'll all go home."

Ness smiled at the idea. "I can't wait for it."

"I wonder how long that will take... Will it be snowing, or will the snow be gone...?" Lucas wondered, mostly out of fear. He wasn't looking forward to camping out in the snow. Both he and Duster didn't really like winter. Far too cold.

"I guess we're just going to have to see," Duster offered with a sigh. "It's hard to tell at this moment. I lost the trail, can't find Kuma... You can't find Claus. We're basically walking straight now."

"Our next plan of action has to be Phoenix Castle," Ninten pointed out, fiddling with his pajama sleeve. "Princess Ana was calling for someone to save her before 'he' came. I have a feeling she's going to do it again, tonight."

"If she does, then we'll definitely check it out," Ness decided with a stern nod. "And I guess there's no point in telling you that you can't go."

Ninten's reply was shaking his head. "I don't care what mother says, I feel compelled to do this."

Duster gave another sigh and rubbed at his eyes again as the two of them continued chatting. Lucas looked up at him with worry, but before long, Ness and Ninten were stalking away back to Ninten's room and Lucas was getting comfy underneath the bed's quilt, being tucked in by Duster, who joined him by his side. Lucas yawned tiredly.

"... Good night, Duster," he said tiredly.

"Good night, Lucas."


	5. Princess Ana

_Dear Duster,_

_I hope Lucas finds you safe and well. Your father was very upset when he had learned about it - he even cried, which I had never seen him do before. It was very startling... Is it true? Did you leave to go after Princess Kumatora? I hope you are able to find her and save her. If anyone deserves to do it, it's you. For as long as I can remember, you are the one that has been her only link to sanity in that castle with the Magypsies. With all due respect to them... they are a little loony occasionally._

_I have a few requests that I hope you will follow, which is why I gave this letter to Lucas. Here they are:_

_1) Take care of that leg! If you push yourself and it too far, you injury could revert... which is really the last thing we need while you're out in the middle of nowhere going off on adventures and I'm not there. Please take the medicine and wear your brace... and please, remember to relax now and then, okay?_

_2) Take care of yourself. I'm pretty sure every time I see you, it's like you haven't slept and you haven't eaten... and it gets worrying. I worry about what could possibly happen to you while you're out there._

_... lastly, but not least, 3) Please take care of Lucas. Just as I worry about you, I worry about my son even more. He's such a fragile, small boy, and for the Magypsies to send him off like this on an adventure to find his brother... I'm terrified, Duster. A mother never should have to let her son go like this. _

_Please, Duster, I beg of you. __You're the only adult he knows out there, and the only one aside from Flint that I would trust my son with. You love him - I know you do, you love both of them. Sometimes I forget you're not a part of this family, but sometimes, I wish you were. At least then, the boys would have a reason to call you brother occasionally. Please, Duster._

_Take care of Lucas._

_Love, Hinawa_

* * *

Duster looked up from the paper to see the boys starting a fire.

They had left about a few hours ago, and had stopped when Lucas had suddenly remembered that he had a letter from his mother and a package from Wess to give to Duster. Pretty much immediately, Duster had refused the package, but had taken the letter. Now he was interested in seeing the package, if what Hinawa said was true. She had no reason to lie, but to hear that Wess had _cried_ over his leaving... Duster didn't want to believe it, but once again, Hinawa had no reason to lie. The things that she had said in this letter... all of it spoke of truth and nothing more.

He promised then to do as she asked, as best as he could. Watching over and taking care of Lucas would be easy. He'd just have to be more careful about his leg and his health. That sounded easy enough, but he knew, eventually, it wouldn't be easy.

Ness and Ninten would have to be under his protection, too. Or, that was how he figured it. He was the responsible adult in this group. He couldn't just take care of Lucas and ignore the other two. He couldn't just pretend that their lives didn't matter. They were young, too. They were innocent, too. All three of those boys... they were still growing up. Duster couldn't pretend like he couldn't care for those two other boys. They were Lucas' friends. Ness had helped Lucas get this far. Ninten had helped them find him. Now, the three of them were working together to start a campfire and set up camp.

Duster looked up at the sky. Last night, Ninten had another message from Princess Ana, asking for help. They had left early in the morning before his mother was awake, recalling how she had been against the idea that he help in the first place. He had stocked himself full with various medicines and asthma sprays, even packed them a bunch of blankets and food. And, to top it all off, he packed them onto a massive gray and white dog named Mick, who had been promoted from chicken guard dog to pack mule.

... Duster wondered just how Ninten's parents were going to react to all this. Their son disappeared in the night alongside some travelers they welcomed into their home, along with a bunch of their food, some thick blankets, Ninten's medicines, and their family dog. It was something that worried him, but for now, they had a goal.

Kuma, Claus, and Princess Paula. They had to find them, and save them. Right now, their goal was to find Princess Ana, who was possibly in danger. Ninten told them that he knew the way to the castle, as most people in Phoenix did. The castle was open to all the people, and the central gardens were home to many of the country's special festivals and other activities. It was certainly a bit of a culture change from Osohe, where the Magypsies more or less had to approve of anyone coming into the castle or its surrounding areas. Duster very rarely paid any mind to that - he knew a way into the castle that led him pretty much right to Kuma's room.

"... and then, by then, we should be right at the front gates," ended Ninten, snapping Duster from his thoughts. "It's simple, really."

"Do you know the way to her room from the castle gates, though?" asked Ness worriedly.

Lucas watched with interest as Ness and Ninten worked together to start a fire using sticks and stones.

"No... But I'm sure if I called with Magic she'd be able to hear me," Ninten replied, a tone of hope in his voice. "We'd really have no other choice - I've actually never been in the castle before and the guards would keep us away from the royal family's quarters."

Duster stood up then and pocketed Hinawa's letter. He limped up to the fire and decided then to say something. "... Well, if you call out to her like she's been doing to you, I'm sure she'd respond. As for sneaking around trying to find her in the castle... I am a thief."

Ninten was clearly thinking about it as he turned to take out some food from Mick's bundles. The big white dog with grey spots was a bit busy appearing to try and sleep. "You'd be able to keep us from getting caught? It's important that we find her quickly, too. I don't know how soon Giygas is going to act in trying to capture her..."

"It's best we hurry up, then," Ness pointed out. "I wasn't fast enough for Princess Paula, but we're going to be fast enough this time for Princess Ana."

Lunch finished quickly and soon the group was starting up again, Ninten leading the way with Mick, followed by Ness, and Duster limping at the very back, Lucas following beside him. The walk was long and quiet, as no one really talked at all. They stopped briefly twice to let Ninten catch his breath, and then, finally, he stopped a third time.

"Again?" asked Ness worriedly.

"No," Ninten revealed, pointing forward. "We're here."

The group looked up to see Castle Phoenix looking back at them. Tall and built of stone, the castle had been built to appear much like the one that Queen Mary and King George had resided in before their departure. While it was probably a tad bit off, the castle itself had been built with beauty and style in mind. Duster figured that it was actually taller than the Osohe Castle back home, and that one had to house seven Magypsies and Kuma. The group walked up the path that led to the main gate, the path surrounded by rose bushes bearing red roses. Lucas eyed them for a moment before rushing to stand beside Duster.

"Halt!" exclaimed a guard. "Please state your business with the king and queen of Phoenix."

"We wish to enjoy the gardens," Ninten very quickly stated. "Nothing more."

The guard stopped for a moment, clearly contemplating the truth behind the words, before he stepped away. "You may step through. Please enjoy your time in the royal gardens."

After a moment, Ninten decided to leave Mick tied to a tree just outside the castle grounds, and used some sort of Shield magic to defend him for danger. Then, stepping through the open wrought iron gates and into the stone walls, the group was taken aback by the sight of the royal gardens - beautifully designed and landscaped to represent the country. A path weaved in and out of bushes and soil, and there was a pond in one of the areas, and a few fruit trees. A few servants were scattered here and there tending to the flowers.

"Okay... We're in," Ness suddenly whispered. "Now what?" _"_

"We have to be careful," Duster replied in a whisper of his own. "We're here, but there are servants and guards everywhere. It will be hard to get to Princess Ana's quarters."

Ninten closed his eyes. "_Princess? Princess Ana, please, do you hear me?_"

Silence. Ninten opened his eyes once more, and a look of disappointment was on his face.

"_I hear you! I hear you! Are you here answering my call? Please, please, I beg you, take me before he does!_"

Her voice suddenly chimed in Ninten's, Ness' and Lucas' heads, startling all three of them. Poor Duster, who had no magical capabilities at all, didn't hear her and so was confused at their sudden shock.

"_Princess, we're in the gardens. How do we reach you from there?_" asked Ninten.

"_Turn right at the main gate when you are facing the flowers. There is a staircase at the end of the hallway. Head up it to the next floor, and walk down the hallway and turn left at the end. At the end of the hallway is another staircase, and once you reach the top, I am in the room with the big wooden doors with engravings of snowflakes._"

Ness was quiet for a moment. "... Any of you get that?"

"I did," Ninten answered quickly. "I'm good at remembering things when I first hear them. Follow me."

Ninten then swiftly rushed down the right hallway toward the stairs. Ness soon followed after him, but Duster and Lucas were quiet for a moment until Lucas looked up at the thief.

"... We heard Princess Ana, and Ninten asked for directions."

Duster let out a, "Aaah. Thanks."

Guards patrolled the hallways, and the group had to stay silent and watch their steps the entire way up the first flight of stairs. Ninten quickly learned that he needed to slow down, as the others weren't quite up to his speed and weren't willing to get caught. Duster stepped carefully as he began to lead the way down the next hall, making sure all three boys were out of sight.

There was a moment of silence as a guard approached their location, seemingly bored with his job as he yawned loudly in his armor. The group pressed against another hall and against the wall, hoping not to be seen.

"Hey, John," said a sudden voice as another guard approached. "There's this mystery guy downstairs demanding to see the king and no one wants to deal with him."

"Not my job," stated John. "Who is this loser anyway?"

"Some compulsive banana eater named Fassad," replied the other guard. "I feel bad for the guard trying to entertain him."

Duster's voice caught in his throat and Lucas held back a gasp. Fassad! He was here? How was this possible? It took them a while just to get here, and Fassad had still been in Tazmilly when Lucas had left. It didn't make any sense. If he was here, then he was surely after the Princess...

"Well, what does he want to see the King for?" asked John. "If he doesn't have an appointment, then just scare him off."

"Actually, he said he 'does have an appointment and it concerns their daughter'. The lard didn't even bother calling her the Princess!"

"No?! Then just tell him to buzz off, we have no need for people disregarding this country's Princess!"

"Yes sir!"

The other guard sauntered away toward the main lobby and the group watched as John sighed and shook his head. It was clear he was tired. "Well, back to work, I guess." John looked away from the group and began his rounds once more.

They were quiet for a moment until Ness decided to speak. "I'm guessing that Fassad guy works for Giygas."

"I'm assuming," Duster replied. "He's the same guy that ratted out Kuma and Claus, leading to their capture."

Something swelled inside Lucas' heart, and he figured it was happiness. Duster wasn't blaming Wess anymore! Forgiving, maybe?

Ninten let out a sharp breath. "Then let's hurry. We don't have any more time to waste. They're not going to be able to distract him for very long."

Instantly agreeing with him, the four heroes started their journey down the hall, goal in mind. They couldn't be caught by John, and they couldn't be too loud as to not wake the sleeping guard they had just encountered. They still had to go up a stair, and then they would be in the all clear. One guard almost discovered them, but Ninten had very quickly put him to sleep with a sudden spell.

"How did you do that?" Ness asked him.

Ninten glanced up at him and lifted a finger. "It's a spell called 'Hypnosis'. Grandpa Jake taught it to me."

"Your grandpa really knows a lot of spells," Lucas pointed out, remembering how he had taught him a higher form of Healing. "Has he taught you Fire and Ice like he had taught your sisters?"

Ninten shook his head as they continued their way down the hall some more. "For some reason, I'm incapable of learning those spells. Grandpa Jake figures I'm more a supporter than a fighter. I'm pretty handy with a bat, though."

The group continued on, distracting another guard with Duster throwing a rock he had found in his shoe down the hall. Another rush up the steps and the group found themselves staring straight at the door that led to Princess Ana's room. They also found themselves incapable of moving.

"I... Do we knock?" asked Lucas. "I mean... this is a Princess' room."

Ninten was quiet for a moment, before he approached the door and raised a fist, knocking lightly against it. The door opened slowly, and a pair of eyes stared back out at him.

"Y-Yes...?" asked the Princess, her voice quivering and shaky.

"Princess Ana, it is me, Ninten," he introduced, even bowing slightly. "I am here to save you, as you see... I have been hearing your calls every night."

"Oh...!" She opened the door fully then, to reveal that she had changed out of her princess garb into something more fitting of a regular peasant. Her blonde hair that was usually seen in curls had been left unkempt and her tiara replaced with a pink hat. "I... I have been waiting... Thank you. Thank you for coming. Please, please, all of you, take me from this castle. Before he comes for me."

"We're already working on it," said Ness, glancing out at the stairs. "It's just... there's got to be a way to quickly leave this place without being caught..."

"There is a passage," Princess Ana replied, stepping out into the hall and heading down it. "This way, please."

The Princess led the way to a portrait of the former King George and Queen Maria. Using her magic, she lifted the portrait off the wall to reveal a passage hidden behind it. She climbed into it, turning back to her saviors. "This way, please."

The others climbed in after her and Princess Ana replaced the portrait onto the wall. She used a spell to summon fire into her hand and led the way through the passage and down two flights of stairs. Yelling could be heard now through the walls, and she panicked slightly. Ninten reassured her - he placed a hand on her shoulder, squeezing it slightly. Lucas whimpered and attached himself to Duster's hip, and Ness swallowed.

"Getting out is going to be a lot of fun," he stated, looking between his comrades. "I can hear him - Giygas. He's not happy that you got out, Princess."

Princess Ana gave a nod. "I realize that. I am the first royal to get away from him - to slip through his fingers. But you see... I have to escape. I need to get out, I need to find the true heir to the throne, the descendant of King George and Queen Maria. It is my task put upon me from my great-grandmother who made the kingdom what it is today.

"And, you see, I have been having dreams... dreams of three boys who stop Giygas' plans. Now that I have seen the four of you... It is my belief that you three..." Here, she pointed at Lucas, Ness and Ninten. "... that you three, are the Chosen Three. I am unsure of what purpose that the older man serves in your party, but I'm sure it is just as important. I want to help you, I want to help you free those Magic Users being used by Giygas.

"My friends, my three dear friends... Kumatora, Paula and Puu... they were claimed by Giygas, because of his plans. I don't know what they are, but they have taken my three friends from me and I wish to get them back. By all means necessary. Please, please let me help you."

The secret passage way grew quiet after Princess Ana had finished speaking. The boys weren't sure about what she wanted to do. Bringing a princess along in all the stories led to complaining about the dirt, fighting, lack of hygiene and comfort, and overall bratty behavior. They weren't sure if bringing along Princess Ana would be a good idea, but it was clear from just the few moments they had spent with her that she knew spells they didn't. Using Fire was something that Lucas had only been aware that Princess Kumatora could use, until meeting Mimmie and Minnie, Ninten's sisters. Having someone with knowledge of the spell could make making a campfire at night all the more easy.

"One thing," Ness suddenly spoke, gaining everyone's attention. "My first priority in this group is saving Princess Paula. Do you know where I can find her?"

Princess Ana was quiet for a moment before she finally shook her head. "I haven't been able to feel her... Out of all of my friends, I can only feel Puu. It is because he is still within my limits as a Magic User."

"Prince Puu?" Ness voiced out loud.

"Well, it's the only lead we have of the royal children that had been taken," Duster pointed out, startling everyone. "Kuma, Claus and Princess Paula are going to have to wait. If we have a lead, we need to jump at it. Any lead could take us to Kuma, Princess Paula or Claus."

Princess Ana gave him a confused glance at his rather casual way of mentioning Princess Kumatora, but decided to drop it before she even mentioned it. She gave a smile and a nod. "... Yes. If we can save Puu, then we'll have a powerful ally and a means of getting to Kumatora and Paula... and this 'Claus' of whom your older friend speaks of."

"Claus is the missing brother of Lucas, the blonde right here," started Ninten. "I'm Ninten, this is Ness, and the older fellow is Duster, our legal adult of the group."

"Are you and Ness related?"

"Hmm?" Ninten blinked at the sudden remark but smiled and shook his head. "... No, we're not. I know we look a lot alike, but as far as I'm aware..."

"You did say your mother's from Eagleland," Ness suddenly pointed out. "I was born and raised there."

"Why are we talking about this...?" Lucas shakily asked. "Shouldn't we be discussing a way out?"

Duster immediately nodded in agreement. "I agree with him." He then limped over to the exit and carefully opened it just a tad to get a look at their surroundings. He was quiet for a moment as his eyes took hold of everything...

... a possible victim for pickpocketing. There was a guard that was half-asleep leaning against a corner of the building, and he had a loose grip of his sword. His wallet was sticking out of his back pocket, and Duster knew, he just _knew _that he could easily swipe that wallet and even the sword without so much of a glance or even getting noticed. Another man was patrolling the surrounding area, but his eyes were focused on the sky rather than the ground, and Duster could easily avoid him with careful stepping and leading the kids by hand. Even with his limp, he'd pass by unnoticed.

The guards were hilariously dull and easy to avoid. This was far easier than Osohe.

The one problem was the man arguing with the soldier that John had been talking to earlier. His eyes were glancing everywhere, almost as if he had expected Princess Ana to try and escape today. His black mustache clued Duster in that this was definitely Fassad and not some pushover imitator to scare them. He was here on official Giygas business. As he argued with the soldier he stepped away and removed a banana from his satchel, opening it and eating it before arguing even more. Attached to him by a leash was a little monkey that he had called Salsa.

The constant glancing around that Fassad was doing would cause some problems, but Duster was optimistic. He closed the door again and eyed the children behind him carefully. He was attempting to make an escape plan, but every single plan he came up with was bound to fail, and he knew it. If they were captured, he'd at least stay true to his unspoken promise to Hinawa through her letter - take care of Lucas. He'll at least make sure Lucas and the other children got out. He was certain Giygas had no real need of a man with a limp anyway.

"No sign of Giygas anymore, but Fassad is down here," he announced. "The guards would be easy to avoid, but he's the main problem. He's constantly changing his attention to somewhere else. I think he knows that we're busting out the Princess."

Lucas gulped. "So, we're caught and gone?"

Duster shook his head. "If anyone's getting caught today, it would be me, not you. The four of you are getting out of here, and I'll make sure of it."

"But what about you, Mr. Duster?" Princess Ana asked timidly. "As Ninten explained, you are the legal adult. We need you as much as a child needs their parent. Without you, we won't get anywhere, won't be allowed anywhere."

Duster sighed and rubbed at his eyes. She had a point, and that slightly shifted things around a bit, making him realize one thing: the kids would try to get him back, just as much as they were attempting to find Kuma, Claus and Princess Paula. "Right... are there any other ways out of here?"

The young boys and Duster turned to look at the Princess, who suddenly became very quiet as she gained a look of realization. "The waterways... there's a maze of waterways below this castle, that leads to many of the nearby villages of towns."

"Well, that's strangely convenient," noted Ninten. "Do you know your way around down there?"

Princess Ana frightened them slightly as she slowly shook her head. "No... but Giygas' forces have actually frequented down there if my father's court is to be believed. According to one of the court members, they marked the walls with small, tiny arrows that lead the way to one of their bases! If we find our way to one of them, for sure, in the main offices, there will be a map of all the locations of their bases... including the ones were Puu, Paula, Kumatora and Lucas' brother would be!"

Lucas' heart flared with excitement. This was fantastic!

"You're talking breaking into bases, Princess! I'm getting excited just thinking about it!" stated Ness happily. "Let's get down there, then!"

"Wait!" Ninten suddenly exclaimed. "I have to pick up ONE thing first!"

* * *

Slow, dripping water sounded through the catacombs of the waterways down below Phoenix Castle. Princess Ana held on tightly to Ninten's hand as the children followed Duster's limping, off-temp steps through the stone pathways. The water streamed by them slowly, but none of them were too keen on falling into the dirty, murky water.

None of them knew how Ninten had managed it, but the young asthmatic had managed to somehow move his way through the guards and pick up Mick his dog, and then make his way _back_. All he had stated upon being questioned was that he used Magic that he had invented, that enabled him to escape apparently very quickly.

In Duster's hands there was a kerosene lamp, one that Princess Ana had very quickly swiped from her father's study. She had also smuggled out a bottle of the oil needed to keep the flame going - just in case they needed it. The light flickering off the flame lit up the pathway nicely, and Lucas was just glad to not be left in the dark down below the ground.

They stopped when Duster spotted on the wall a small marking - an arrow that pointed to the right. He glanced down the walkway to see, in the distance, another one pointing down the left walkway at the end.

"... I guess we're going this way," he stated, beginning to lead the way.

"The waterways don't go all the way through Phoenix," Princess Ana offered as trivia, stepping carefully alongside them. "There is a point where they stop - it actually details how small the country was when King George ruled over it."

"America was rather small before it was Phoenix, wasn't it?" Ninten asked. "Your great-grandfather had actually widened its borders."

"He had," Princess Ana confirmed with a small nod and a smile. "He figured that they needed more land back then to play with, to make safe from Giegue and his destruction. My great-grandfather had good intentions, too: he had wanted to make the perfect kingdom for when King George and Queen Maria returned to take their throne. It's just a shame that they had never actually returned during his time."

"They must have been happy where they were," Ninten replied softly. "They preferred the quiet life, I guess."

"... Perhaps."

Duster led them a few more turns before suddenly stopping. Gripping tightly on Lucas, he pulled the boy back and gestured to everyone else to go against the wall. As soon as he had followed suit, he suddenly blew out the flame, leaving them in the dark.

"Duster...! What are you...?!" Ness quietly asked.

"Shh..." Duster replied. "They're coming..."

In the dark, the boys and Princess listened. Under the sound of the dripping water and the echoing waves of the waterways, they heard, in the distance, the sound of marching. One man in the mess was ordering them, telling them what they were expected to do as they stayed in these walls and in the base they were going to be working with - told them that under no circumstances were they to listen to the one prisoner they had to take care of, and never take his word for anything, no matter how good it sounded.

And finally, finished the commander as they approached the group, under no circumstances were they to let anyone know what Giygas' plans for Magic were.

Duster gulped, lowering his head and trying his best to blend into the background. He was also trying to hide Lucas from view, as the boy's blonde hair stood out like a flame. He noticed Ness and Ninten trying to do the same with Princess Ana and Mick. With a grunt, he turned to face all of them and took off his cloak.

"Shh..." he repeated, and covered them with it. "... Stay quiet."

He ducked down behind them, making sure the cloak covered them all completely. The army of Giygas marched past them, singing along to a song that one of them wrote, detailing something about dark beings, eight melodies, and a witch. Really, the song sounded like he had invented it while drunk.

In the cloak, the children did their best to stay quiet. Ninten tried to keep his breathing in check - the moisture in the air from the waterways was threatening his asthma to act up. Mick stayed cleverly quiet, his snout rubbing up against Ninten's leg, offering encouragement, perhaps. Ness gripped Lucas' shoulder for support. Princess Ana was close to panicking, fearful that they would be caught. Lucas was close to tearing up, panic rising up inside of him as he reached his breaking point. Duster stayed close near them, trying to stay out of view.

The army marched on.

... and on.

... ... and on.

... ... ... and on.

... ... ... ... and on.

Until, finally, the last group passed right by them.

Silence.

Nobody moved.

Duster swung the cape off of the children after a moment, content that they were in the clear. All four instantly pounced on him in relief, glad that they had managed to escape capture.

"That terrified me...!" Ness harshly whispered. "Let's follow them - they're probably heading to one of their bases, right?"

"Probably," Duster agreed in a low voice. "Let's move."

Princess Ana suddenly perked, her eyes widening in realization. "... Hey. Remember when I said that I still feel Puu...?"

"Yes," remarked Ninten in reply. "What is it?"

The Princess smiled at him and the others. "... He's in that base. Puu is in that base we are approaching. Do you understand? We can save Puu, the Prince of Dalaam!"


End file.
